| Unranked last year, Peter Ward lands at No. 3. The analyst, who moved from Barclays to Jefferies & Co. in June 2011, “was one of the few analysts to go correctly negative on gold stocks,” recalls one advocate. Ward downgraded Greenwood Village, Colorado–based gold miner Newmont Mining Corp. from buy to hold in September 2011, at $63.33, on reduced expectations for the quantity of its production. The stock tumbled 20 percent, to $50.68, and trailed the sector by 7.4 percentage points, through August. With ten companies under coverage, Ward’s current top pick is Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, largely because of an undersupply of copper. RUNNER(S)-UP Jorge Beristain David Gagliano |
