< The 2014 All-India Research Team

Total Appearances: 4

Analyst Debut: 2011It’s three years in a row at No. 1 on this lineup for J.P. Morgan’s First-Place Appearances: 3
Total Appearances: 4
Analyst Debut: 2011, whose “knowledge is in-depth and broad,” one investor remarks. “He is always worth listening to.” In August 2013, with shares of New Delhi’s Steel Authority of India down 50 percent for that year to date, at 42.52 rupees, and trailing India’s basic materials shares broadly by 21.7 percentage points, the 35-year-old researcher dubbed them a bargain and reiterated his overweight position. Although declining iron-ore prices had been battering the stock, he forecast that India’s largest integrated iron and steel producer would benefit from a pick-up in construction and credited the company’s sizable reserves of high-grade ore. Sure enough, by late last month, Steel Authority had rebounded to Rs83.35, besting its peers by 46.3 percentage points. He remains bullish on the stock, believing that a price of Rs105 is justified. “Pinakin is an independent thinker who takes the long view,” asserts another portfolio manager. In general, of the dozen names under his coverage, metals companies that are repairing their balance sheets through deleveraging earn Parekh’s favor. Examples include Hindalco Industries, a Mumbai-based aluminum provider, which he notes also is enjoying volume growth in its high-margin auto body business. The analyst’s Rs205 price objective for Hindalco’s stock represents a 38.1 percent upside to its value in late October. Another preferred player in this segment is Goa’s Sesa Sterlite. The base-metals miner is benefiting from rising zinc and aluminum prices and its potential alumina refinery expansion. The shares were trading at Rs248.85 in late October, and Parekh forecasts a rise to Rs345.