Christopher Ferrara
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 5

Team debut: 2009

Christopher Ferrara leaps from the runner-up spot he held for four straight years and lands in second place; he also claims a runner-up position in Tobacco. Ferrara decamped Bank of America Merrill Lynch to join Wells Fargo Securities in late August. “I think he is one of the few analysts in the category who really understand what drives stocks,” says one advocate. “He thinks about his companies in terms of catalysts for the stock.” In January, Ferrara upgraded New York–based Avon from neutral to buy, at $15.46. He says the beauty-products manufacturer had long been poorly managed and “needed to have a couple of major risk factors get out of the way.” Avon had named former Johnson & Johnson executive Sherilyn McCoy its new CEO in April 2012, however, and by the following January, Ferrara believed the company was turning a corner. When Ferrara discontinued coverage, in anticipation of his departure from BofA Merrill, the stock was up 47.5 percent, to $22.80. — Katie Gilbert