< The 2015 All-America Research Team
John Faucher
J.P. Morgan
First-place appearances: 5
Total appearances: 23
Analyst debut: 2002
Last year John Faucher secured the No. 2 position on the Cosmetics, Household & Personal Care Products lineup and merited his fourth consecutive runner-up position on the Beverages roster. Those sectors are now combined, and the J.P. Morgan researcher, 46, captures second place on the list, winning particular praise for his thoroughgoing expertise. “Faucher is very knowledgeable about both the macro and micro factors that affect the companies he follows,” affirms one admirer. One name that has been a multiyear favorite of the analyst’s is Jarden Corp. He began reporting on the Boca Raton, Florida–based consumer goods manufacturer in mid-December 2012, assigning the stock an overweight rating. It was then trading at a split-adjusted $22.37, having advanced 68.4 percent for that year to date, while the S&P 500 rose 15 percent. He foresaw further gains from management’s focus on growing margins, expanding top-line performance and distributing more cash to shareholders. Despite ongoing economic headwinds, Jarden’s product mix — from Ball and Kerr canning products, to Coleman camping gear, Mr. Coffee machines, Rawlings sports equipment and Sunbeam can openers — was sufficiently diverse, Faucher reasoned, to find sustainable opportunities in markets at home and abroad. He was certainly right. By the time he dubbed Jarden his top household and personal care products name, two years later, the shares had soared to $46.21, for a gain of 106.6 percent that was better even than the broad market’s 35.3 percent rally. To strengthen an already robust product mix and broaden the company’s distribution platform, the executive team had in October 2013 acquired Yankee Candle Co. and went on to snap up disposable dinnerware maker Waddington Group in July 2015. Benefits will derive from the cyclical nature of Jarden’s portfolio, which will continue to drive revenue expansion, the researcher believes, even as Jarden is likely to pursue additional deals to power positive earnings revisions. In mid-September its stock closed at $52.18, having soared 133.3 percent since Faucher launched coverage and outperformed the broad market by 98 percentage points.