Basic Materials – Paper & Packaging: First

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George Staphos
Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
“Great insight on industry trends and individual companies.”

All-America Research Team Hall of Famer George Staphos is on top for a ninth straight year (including this sector’s predecessors) and has finished in first place 13 times since 1999. “Being on the other side of his stock calls is an uncomfortable proposition I try to avoid,” asserts one client. Others praise the Bank of America Merrill Lynch researcher’s long-standing support of Packaging Corp. of America. Staphos, 47, launched coverage in February 2009 with a valuation-based buy rating, at $11.69, and has stood by the call ever since. Through August 2012 the Lake Forest, Illinois–based corrugated-box maker’s stock soared 173.9 percent, to $32.02 — gaining 30.6 percent in the past year alone. In June the analyst, who covers 23 companies, reiterated his buy rating on Norcross, Georgia’s Rock-Tenn Co., when disappointing earnings caused the carton producer’s shares to slip to $49.91. The stock had jumped 33.8 percent, to $66.77, by late August. Staphos “is not easily swayed by short-term trends — he doesn’t overreact,” affirms another ally.

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