< The 2015 All-America Research Team

Total appearances: 14

Analyst debut: 2002

At No. 3 for a second consecutive year is Eric Katzman of Deutsche Bank Securities. He is neutral on U.S. food companies and hesitates to identify a pattern predicting the outperformers among the group, which advanced 8.4 percent during the 12 months through mid-September, besting the S&P 500 by 11 percentage points. “There hasn’t been a common theme among winning subsectors — those companies that are in the midst of strategic change or where the market is convinced there will be such change are the areas of outperformance,” says Katzman, 51. “At this point, we are advising our clients to be cautious, given still-poor fundamentals versus M&A-influenced valuations.” In January he nudged his rating on Pennsylvania-based confectioner Hershey Co. from buy to hold, citing concerns over management’s plans for international expansion, as well as Canadian currency headwinds and high-end chocolate’s growing share in the U.S. market. As of mid-September the stock had fallen 15.1 percent, to $92.46, and trailed its peers by 17.1 percentage points. The Deutsche researcher believes that a price of $95 is reasonable. “Eric understands where consensus is, but if you read his research in detail, you find that he is objective and guides the investors with highly independent and logical thinking,” marvels on fund manager.