The 2013 All-America Research Team: Food, No. 3: Alexia Howard

Repeating in third place is Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.’sAlexia Howard. Her advice to clients: “Careful stock picking within the sector is critical when different food categories have such different growth prospects.” Howard explains that, for example, some of her names are poised to grow on the back of consumer interest that’s shifting to healthier, fresher foods, while others are more focused on returning cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. One company that falls into the more desirable former category, she believes, is J.M. Smucker Co., the Orrville, Ohio–based food manufacturer whose brands include Smucker’s fruit spreads, Jif peanut butter and Folgers coffee. Smucker’s brand strength in emerging markets should also buoy the company. Howard raised the stock from market perform to outperform in February, at $87.36. By the end of August, it had led the sector by 8.4 percentage points, trading up to $106.14. “Alexia’s edge is really having a good sense of what management teams are thinking and how they might act in various hypothetical situations,” cheers one booster. —Katie Gilbert