Thomas Wadewitz
J.P. Morgan
First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 8

Team debut: 2006

Monitoring 25 companies, Thomas Wadewitz of J.P. Morgan repeats in second place. “Tom’s analyses of broad trends and long-term themes are always interesting and usually helpful to our performance,” attests one fund manager. An April 2013 upgrade of commodities shipper Old Dominion Freight Line from neutral to overweight further endears him to some clients. While competitors were reducing capacity to cut costs, he argued, Thomasville, North Carolina–based Old Dominion stood to gain market share — and the stock was a bargain at $36.10, to boot. By the end of August, the shares had surged 20.3 percent, to $43.42. Going forward, Wadewitz favors Union Pacific Corp., an Omaha, Nebraska–based transcontinental rail hauler. “We expect pricing gains and a resilient and diverse customer mix to support an attractive revenue and [earnings per share] growth story,” he explains. — Ben Mattlin