Ronald Barone UBS
second team Richard Gross Barclays
third team Benjamin Dell Sanford C. Bernstein
Ronald Barone of UBS, who has ranked in this sector every year since 1981, takes top honors for a third straight year. The Dallas-based analyst wins praise for “understanding the metrics behind the numbers far better than his peers,” according to one money manager. Barone, 66, alerted investors to a short-term trading opportunity with a long-term favorite, Spectra Energy Corp. of Houston. Correctly anticipating that the company would report lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and scale back its 2009 guidance, the analyst put a sell on the stock in January, at $15.35. In February, after Spectra shares had tumbled 8.9 percent, to $13.99, Barone closed the call. The stock had climbed to $18.82 by late August.
Rising one notch to second place is Richard Gross of Barclays Capital, who also is No. 1 in Master Limited Partnerships. “The knowledge and clarity of Rick’s thinking in the natural-gas space is hard to find among other analysts,” marvels one client. Gross also recommended Spectra, upgrading the stock from hold to buy in late February, on valuation. By August 31 it had shot up 55.4 percent and outpaced the sector by 21.3 percentage points.
Benjamin Dell of Sanford C. Bernstein provides “a well-rounded perspective that is useful for constructing an energy portfolio,” according to one investor. Indeed, Dell’s coverage is so comprehensive, and includes such exhaustive detail about all types of energy-related trends and developments, that he manages to win third-place honors in a sector he doesn’t officially cover: Natural Gas. (He also captures first-place honors in a sector he does cover, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production.) “I don’t always agree with his conclusions, but the data is great,” says one money manager.
Click here to see the All-America Research Team rankings.
