Michael Weinstein J.P. Morgan
second team Robert Hopkins BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Kristen Stewart Credit Suisse
It’s three consecutive years in the winner’s circle for J.P. Morgan’s Michael Weinstein, who provides “the best strategic perspective on how these stocks will trade individually and as a group,” according to one longtime investor. Weinstein, 39, upgraded Boston Scientific Corp. to overweight in January, at $7.87, on improving sales at the Natick, Massachusetts–based medical-equipment manufacturer. The stock had bounded to $11.75 by late August, gaining 49.3 percent at a time when the sector advanced only 15.5 percent.
Robert Hopkins, in second place for a third year running, has emerged as “the key man to talk to when it comes to figuring out how health care reform will impact these stocks,” one fund manager says, and over the shorter term gives buy-siders plenty of trading ideas. In January the BofA Merrill analyst initiated coverage of Covidien, which relocated from Bermuda to Ireland in June, calling the device maker’s shares a bargain at $37.35. By late August the stock had climbed 6.2 percent, to $39.57.
Newcomer Kristen Stewart of Credit Suisse finishes in third place. Stewart advised clients to buy shares of Becton, Dickinson & Co. in March, at $63.71, on valuation. In July, after the stock had risen 5.8 percent, to $67.39, she urged them to take the gain. The Franklin Lakes, New Jersey–based equipment manufacturer’s shares closed August at $69.62.
Click here to see the All-America Research Team rankings.
