< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team
Michael Pickup & team
Barclays
First-place appearances: 3
Total appearances: 7
Team debut: 2010
The Barclays European oil services troupe in London rises from third place to second. Directing the three-strong team’s reporting on 17 companies in this sector is 44-year-old Michael Pickup, whose "knowledge is professorial — and he’s a nimble stock picker," one admirer says. The analysts also garner investor accolades for their negative stance on France’s CGG, which produces seismic imaging equipment for use in the oil industry. In December 2014, noting the company’s exposure to reductions in offshore seismic exploration and spending, they resumed coverage of CGG with an underweight rating, at €5.41. Management subsequently announced a full strategic restructuring and its intention to tap the market for as much as €350 million ($383 million) in discounted new shares to finance the turnaround. By the middle of last month, the stock had collapsed to €0.85, plunging 84.3 percent and lagging the regional sector by 48.6 percentage points. Pickup and his colleagues recommend that investors prefer British onshore and offshore services provider Petrofac, dubbing it a top pick for 2016 largely thanks to its healthy pipeline of business and robust new-order flow. Barclays’s researchers tag the stock with a price objective of 1,320p, representing 88.6 percent upside potential from its mid-January value.