Countries: France – Second

In second place for a third year running is the 23-member troupe at Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux.

Bruno Lapierre & team, Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux

In second place for a third year running is the 23-member troupe at Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux. The Paris-based team is headed by newcomer Bruno Lapierre, following the departure of Laurent Poinsot, who moved to the buy side. The researchers cover 124 stocks in France and “they’re well connected politically — they offer investors the opportunity to talk to government officials or quasigovernmental leaders and important policymakers for a top-down view,” explains one loyalist. “That’s a big deal in France, which has a highly socialist model where politicians call a lot of the shots.” The analysts’ outlook for the year is cautious, especially in the first quarter, but that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of buy recommendations. Their top pick is a continuation of an overweight rating on Sodexo, a business-services provider headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The company has a solid balance sheet and a strong pipeline of new sales orders, with double-digit earnings-per-share growth expected over the next two years, Lapierre says. The stock gained 10.5 percent in 2011 and beat the CAC 40 index by 27.5 percentage points.

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