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George Staphos | George Staphos BofA SECOND TEAM Claudia Hueston JPMorgan THIRD TEAM Mark Connelly Credit Suisse RUNNERS-UP Chip Dillon Citi ; Ghansham Panjabi Wachovia ; Peter Ruschmeier Barclays |
“Consistent,” “steady” and “reliable” are just some of the adjectives clients use to describe George Staphos, who held the top spot in Packaging for the past four years. This year that sector has been merged with Paper & Forest Products (in which the 43-year-old Banc of America Securities analyst finished third last year), and Staphos reigns supreme. In November he downgraded Montreal-based pulp producer AbitibiBowater to sell, at $22.95, on declining demand for newsprint. The share price had crumpled to $5.10 by mid-September, underperforming the sector by 60.7 percentage points. In second place is Claudia Hueston, a runner-up last year in both Paper & Forest Products and Packaging. “She has some of the best models among her peers,” declares one money manager. In March the JPMorgan Securities analyst upgraded paperboard producer Rock-Tenn Co. to buy, at $26.83, on her belief that the Norcross, Georgia–based company’s earnings would be enhanced by its acquisition that month of Southern Container Corp. of Hauppauge, New York. By mid-September the share price had shot up 64.0 percent, to $44.00. Mark Connelly of Credit Suisse, No. 2 last year in Paper & Forest Products, finishes third. “He provides good access to management,” says one client.
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