The buy side says: “She has a thorough knowledge of trends in the sector and how they affect stock prices.”
Lisa Gill, who spent the past two years at No. 2, rises the final rung to capture the crown for the first time. The J.P. Morgan analyst is “indispensable when it comes to the pharmacy benefit managers,” insists one longtime supporter. Gill had to suspend coverage on Express Scripts in April 2009 because her firm helped underwrite the St. Louis–based PBM’s $4.7 billion acquisition of WellPoint’s NextRx. She reinitiated coverage in December with an overweight rating, at $42.19, telling clients that even though the stock had vaulted 71.6 percent while she was on the sidelines, plenty of upside remained. The share price shot above $53 in June before drifting back down, ending August at $42.60 — but still ahead of the sector by 7.3 percentage points. “She is indefatigable and always accessible,” marvels one constituent. Gill, 41, earned a BBA in accounting at Loudonville, New York’s Siena College in 1991 and worked at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) and Ernst & Young before joining J.P. Morgan in 1998.
