Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.’s Focus List ranked No. 1 in Barron’s semi-annual ranking of best stock recommendations for 2007.
For the one year period, the Bear Stearns Focus List outperformed the stock recommendations of 14 other brokers with a 21.98% return. During that same period, the average broker returned 6.56% and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 5.49%.
For the last six months of 2007, when the S&P 500 fell 1.37%, the Bear Stearns Focus List rose 12.08% earning the top spot as well with a return more than twice as large as the nearest competitor.
The Bear Stearns Focus List includes a selection of 11 to 20 companies recommended by the Equity Research department. The list is managed by Kay Booth, director of Global Equity Research.
“The Focus List is constructed from the universe of stocks our equity research analysts expect to outperform the market over the near and long-term. Our Barron’s finish points to the importance of having a great team of talented analysts who can do the in depth analysis that goes into good stock picking,” says Booth.
In the three-year and five-year rankings, the Bear Stearns Focus List rose 30.23% and 89.76%, for a 7th and 6th place finish, respectively. The Barron’s results, which are not indicative of future results, are based on data compiled by Zacks Investment Research, an independent Chicago-based firm.
Zacks analyzes brokers’ research and keeps a running tally of the Focus Lists, or best stock ideas, of participating brokers for various periods over the previous five years.
Calculations for the survey take into account gains or losses, dividends and theoretical commissions of 1% on each trade.
Beginning and end prices used are the official exchange closing prices on the date a Focus List change is made. Zacks calculates the time-weighted monthly performance of Focus Lists on an equal-weighted basis.