The buy side says: “Colin brings his knowledge to bear in every research piece he publishes.”
Colin McGranahan of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. is crowned the best in his sector for a fourth year in a row and for the fifth time in the past six years. “Nobody understands the practical perspective of running a retailer like Colin,” applauds one satisfied buy-sider. Last November, the 40-year-old McGranahan issued a neutral rating on home improvement retailers, telling clients that any recovery in the housing market would prove choppy and shallow; therefore, he argued, the stocks were already fairly priced. Among the names included in his report was Lowe’s Cos., a Mooresville, North Carolina–based chain with stores in all 50 states. By late August the stock had inched up only 4.9 percent, from $19.33 to $20.28; the broad market was flat during the same period.
