Paul Walsh & team, Morgan Stanley

Rising from runner-up to the third tier is the Morgan Stanley quartet under Paul Walsh. The analysts, who work out of London, highlighted their buy rating on Croda International in February 2011, at 1,507.66p, citing improving margins and volume growth at the U.K.-based manufacturer of consumer lotions and industrial specialty chemicals. (The team first recommended the shares back in January 2008, dubbing them a bargain at 515.39p.) Croda’s stock ended last year at 1,804p, for a 19.7 percent gain since the analysts’ reiteration that bested the sector by 28 percentage points. “Walsh and company stick to their guns,” cheers one ally.