Repeating in first place is Vidyadhar Ginde, who tracks ten companies and stands out for his coverage of oil and gas prices, investors say. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch researcher, 45, is also known for “keeping his eye on how government programs can affect company margins,” as one fund manager puts it. In January, Ginde reiterated his long-standing underperform rating on Petronet LNG. The New Delhi–based state-run importer of liquefied natural gas faced growing competition from low-cost domestic LNG producers, Ginde reasoned. Through mid-October the stock plunged 22.4 percent, to 125.45 rupees, and trailed the sector by 18.8 percentage points. For the next 12 months, he expects the best-performing name in his space to be Oil and Natural Gas Corp., a Dehradun-based state-owned exploration and production giant. He bases this view on likely “gains from gas price increases [and] oil sector reforms,” he says, including diesel deregulation. Ginde graduated from the University of Mumbai with a bachelor’s degree in commerce and joined DSP Merrill Lynch in 2006 from HSBC Securities and Capital Markets India, where he followed the same sector. — Ben Mattlin |
The 2013 All-India Research Team: Oil & Gas, First: Vidyadhar Ginde
