William Pecoriello | William Pecoriello Morgan Stanley SECOND TEAM Michael Branca Barclays THIRD TEAM John Faucher JPMorgan RUNNERS-UP Bryan Spillane BofA |
“The dean of beverage analysts” is how one money manager describes William Pecoriello, in first place for a sixth straight year. Among the Morgan Stanley researcher’s top picks of the past year was Dean Foods Co., which Pecoriello upgraded in February, at $21.52, believing that valuations of the Dallas-based dairy products manufacturer were overly bearish. By mid-September the stock had risen to $23.92, a gain of 11.2 percent that outpaced the sector by 7.5 percentage points. Pecoriello, 43, “talks openly about stock prospects without feeling beholden to his current rating or recommendation,” notes one appreciative client. Michael Branca, who moved to Barclays Capital after its parent acquired Lehman Brothers last month, leaps from runner-up to second place. The analyst “digs deeper into company initiatives to help investors understand them,” says one investor. Branca upgraded PepsiCo in May, telling clients that promotional pricing for the Purchase, New York–based soft-drink manufacturer’s Frito-Lay snack food subsidiary would generate higher sales and thus higher profits. By mid-September the stock had outperformed the sector by 4.4 percentage points. John Faucher, who repeats in third, wins praise from one money manager for his “willingness to make contrarian calls.” Case in point: the JPMorgan Securities analyst’s November downgrade of Coca-Cola Enterprises, which was predicated on the belief that rising sales of the Atlanta-based company’s Glaceau flavored-water products were not sufficient to offset declining sales of its carbonated beverages. By mid-September, CCE’s shares had sunk 27.6 percent.
