< The 2015 All-America Research Team
Ghansham Panjabi
Robert W. Baird & Co.
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 10
Analyst debut: 2003
A runner-up last year, Ghansham Panjabi of Robert W. Baird & Co. advances to third place, the position he most recently held in 2012. Working out of Dallas, the 41-year-old researcher reports on 19 companies, impressing investors with his “high degree of precision and deeper understanding of industry dynamics than anyone else,” as one portfolio manager says. Clients also hail Panjabi’s broad coverage, which extends to certain producers that may have more in common with specialty chemicals than traditional packagers. Case in point: The analyst holds a long-standing outperform rating on Evansville, Indiana–based Berry Plastics Group, which manufactures bottles, rigid containers and coatings. Plastic resin prices have been rising, he notes, and management has been deleveraging debt. During the 12 months through mid-September, Berry’s stock jumped 29.7 percent, to $32.07, beating its peers by 19.8 percentage points. Panjabi projects a further rise to $40.