David Raso | First TeamDavid Raso Citi Second Team Ann Duignan, Bear Stearns Third Team Joel Tiss, Lehman Runners-Up Barry Bannister, Stifel Nicolaus; David Bleustein, UBS |
| Dubbed the “hardest-working analyst on the Street” by one satisfied buy-sider, David Raso, 37, tops the roster for a seventh year in a row. Clients praise the Citi analyst for sticking with his long-standing buy on Deere Co., a Moline, Illinois–based farm-equipment maker he first recommended in October 2004 on rising crop prices, a call he reiterated last November, at $83.78, after visits to farms across the country indicated rising demand for Deere products. By mid-September shares had soared 64.6 percent, to $137.93, since Raso’s reiteration. During the same period the sector gained 30.1 percent. “He doesn’t rely on secondary sources, like other analysts, but checks everything out personally,” says one impressed investor. Ann Duignan of Bear Stearns rises one notch to the second team. In January, Duignan initiated coverage of CNH Global, a Dutch manufacturer of heavy construction equipment, with an outperform rating, on rising demand for agricultural hardware owing to the growing interest in ethanol. By mid-September the stock had zoomed 66.1 percent. “Ann is consistently ahead of the curve,” cheers one enthusiastic buy-sider. Slipping a rung to third is Joel Tiss of Lehman Brothers, who is prized for “mixing pragmatic fundamental analysis with ahead-of-the-pack stock picking,” in the words of one client. In March, Tiss urged investors to overweight Bucyrus International, a South Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based producer of excavation machinery, on growing market share. By mid-September the shares had shot up 34.9 percent. “Joel is great at spotting trends way before his peers,” asserts one client. | |
