| Repeat first-teamer Steven Alexopoulos of J.P. Morgan “knows he is in the stock-picking business — not the business of picking his favorite management team,” attests one booster. Alexopoulos, 41, keeps sights on 27 companies, and his current recommendations include First Horizon National Corp. He upgraded the Memphis, Tennessee–based commercial lender’s shares from neutral to overweight in October 2011, at $5.92, largely on valuation. The stock jumped 51.4 percent, to $8.96, and beat the sector by 14.1 percentage points, through August. Alexopoulos also upgraded Chicago’s PrivateBancorp from neutral to overweight last October, dubbing the shares undervalued at $6.89. In January, after they had catapulted 87.8 percent, to $12.94, and trumped the sector by 54 percentage points, he moved them back to neutral, on valuation. That was early: By late August the stock had surged 26 percent, to $16.30. “Steve does a great job of translating industry issues — such as the impact of continued low rates or loan pricing pressure — to the individual companies,” says another fan. |
Financial Institutions – Banks/Midcap: First 2012
Repeat first-teamer Steven Alexopoulos of J.P. Morgan “knows he is in the stock-picking business — ot the business of picking his favorite management team,” attests one booster.
October 16, 2012
