The 2014 All-Brazil Research Team: Pulp & Paper, No. 2: Marcos Assumpção

Marcos Assumpção Itaú BBA First-place appearances: 4

Total appearances: 7

Team debut: 2008 Marcos Assumpção dominated this lineup for four years running but now slips to second place, the same position he wins in Metals & Mining this year. Working out of São Paulo, the Itaú BBA analyst tracks eight Brazilian pulp and paper names and is bullish on Bahia-based Suzano Papel e Celulose. He upgraded the paperboard maker from market perform to outperform in July 2013, at 7.84 reais, crediting an increased volume of pulp shipments, enhanced profitability from lower paper and wood costs, improved operational efficiency and broader customer penetration. The stock rose as high as 9.64 reais in January before retreating to 8.80 reais through July 2014, for a life-of-call gain of 12.2 percent that bested the sector’s performance by 23.5 percentage points. Still, the analyst sees significant room for the shares to keep running and assigns Suzano a price objective of 12 reais. Assumpção “is skilled and knowledgeable,” affirms one loyalist.

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