Salomon Knocks Merrill From Top Spot in Rankings

Salomon Smith Barney has ousted Merrill Lynch from the top spot in Wall Street’s best-known annual ranking of stock analysts. But given many investors’ rising criticism of analysts in general, the crown might not mean as much as it did in years past, some Wall Street pros say.

Institutional Investor magazine said Wednesday that Salomon analysts received 55 spots on the magazine’s “All-America Research Team,” jumping from last year’s third-place finish to unseat Merrill, which had held the top spot for six years. Salomon is a unit of financial services giant Citigroup Inc.

Merrill came in third with 51 analysts on this year’s All-America team. Credit Suisse First Boston jumped from fourth place last year to second place, with 52 analysts on the list.

Rounding out this year’s top five firms: Morgan Stanley at No. 4 and Lehman Bros. at No. 5.

Institutional Investor publishes its All-America analyst list each October based on a survey of big money managers worldwide. The magazine said it had 3,200 respondents in this year’s survey.

Analysts are judged not only on the accuracy of their stock picks but also on their general helpfulness to money managers in building portfolios and understanding industry and company trends.