< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team
Victoria Stern
& team
Barclays
First-Place Appearances: 3
Total Appearances: 7
Team Debut: 2010
It’s three years in a row in the top spot for Victoria Stern and her London-based Barclays trio. One investor appreciates the “good discussions, research and commentary” provided in the analysts’ coverage of 15 names in this regional sector. The Barclays squad is increasingly cautious on the hotels subsector, reports the 35-year-old team leader, noting that revenue-per-available-room trends are sluggish and that the industry is being shaken up by disruptors like Airbnb, a U.S.-headquartered, Internet-based marketplace that allows users to book properties directly from owners looking to rent them. Accordingly, in December the analysts gave up their near-term optimism on Whitbread — a U.K.-based global operator of coffee shops, hotels and restaurants — lowering their rating from overweight to equal weight. At that time, the shares had climbed 5.2 percent during the preceding 12 months, rising to 4,710p, and were leading the sector by 11.8 percentage points. Moreover, since September 2011, when they first turned bullish on Whitbread, its stock had rocketed 231.2 percent, which was better even than the 126.4 percent gain delivered by its regional peers. Although they reduced their price objective for the shares from 5,800p to 5,200p at the time of their downgrade, Stern and her colleagues still see Whitbread as a long-term growth play.