Andrew Wood & team Sanford C. Bernstein
second team Charles Mills, David Alexander Molloy & team Credit Suisse
third team David Hayes & team Nomura
For five years, from 2004 through 2008, the winner’s circle belonged to Sanford C. Bernstein’s two-analyst team piloted by Andrew Wood. Last year they slipped to second place, but they’re back on top this year, thanks in part to what one client calls an “extreme out-of-the-box” approach.
Wood, 45, who also leads the No. 1 team in Household & Personal Care Products, “is a very insightful analyst with very strong opinions,” avers one money manager. The duo highlighted its outperform rating on Cadbury in January 2009, at 558.50p, on the British confectioner’s strong sales and potential as a takeover target. The stock ended the year at 797.50p, a tasty 42.8 percent gain that beat the sector by 16.2 percentage points. Last month, Cadbury accepted a $19.5 billion takeover offer from U.S.-based Kraft Foods; the deal is expected to close later this year.
Down one rung to second place is the Credit Suisse trio co-captained this year by Charles Mills and David Alexander Molloy, described by one investor as “original thinkers who do not always follow the crowd.” In June the analysts saw signs of growth in the sector and advised clients to overweight it. Good call. Through December the sector outpaced the broad market by 7.4 points.
In third place is the Nomura trio led by newcomer David Hayes, who also leads the No. 2 team in Tobacco. In May the team upgraded Unilever to buy, at €16.59, citing the British packaged-foods producer’s rising sales. The stock had soared 37.3 percent, to €22.78, by late December.
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