Stephen Volkmann
Jefferies
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 7

Analyst debut: 2001

In his best showing to date, Stephen Volkmann of Jefferies advances from runner-up to third place. With 19 companies under coverage, Volkmann is recognized for his “deep expertise and excellent calls that help in my research,” as one fund manager puts it. Ireland’s Ingersoll-Rand, which manufactures industrial, security and climate-control technologies, is among the names the analyst favors, thanks to its exposure to the U.S. construction recovery and its share-repurchase program. In December 2011 he initiated coverage of the New York–listed shares with a buy rating, as a bargain at $33.18. They had bounded ahead to $59.14 by the end of August 2013, advancing 28.3 percent in the preceding 12 months alone. A July 2012 downgrade of Caterpillar from buy to hold, partly because of softness in global mining markets, also proved prescient. Shares of the Peoria, Illinois–based mining-equipment producer stepped up 4 percent, from $79.37 to $82.54, through August 2013, lagging the sector by 23.8 percentage points. — Ben Mattlin