Sunil (Nik) Modi UBS
Sunil (Nik) Modi holds second place for a second year in a row. Investors credit the UBS analyst with making “bold calls” and for “knowing his companies very well.” Modi elevated Altria Group to top pick in January, at $19.18, on the belief that the Richmond, Virginia–based cigarette maker provided a better combination of yield and earnings per share than its peers and that its 2009 acquisition of UST — the manufacturer of Copenhagen, Skoal and other brands of smokeless tobacco — would boost sales and profitability. The stock climbed 16.4 percent, to $22.32, and beat the sector by 11 percentage points, through August.
