Salomon Smith Barney Inc grabbed the most honors in this year's Institutional Investor magazine poll, with analysts ranked in 55 categories.
Second-place Credit Suisse First Boston placed 52 analysts.
Merrill Lynch & Co and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co, which shared the top spot last year, fell to third and fourth.
Merrill, though, kept the distinction of most No. 1 ranked analysts -- 16 compared with 15 for Salomon Smith Barney.
A top spot in the magazine's poll can more than double a previously unranked analyst's compensation, recruiters say, and it helps a firm garner trading commissions from money managers and land business arranging stock sales.
If you claim the top spot, your firm "must pay you at the top end" compared to rivals at other firms, said Brian Sullivan, managing partner for financial services at recruitment firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc
In the past, analyst compensation has totaled as much as US$6 million to US$8 million a year, Sullivan said.
Pay is harder to guess this year because a decline in underwriting and merger advisory business has left securities firms with a reduced bonus pool.
In some cases, as much as 80 percent of a bonus pool comes from investment banking, Sullivan said.
The magazine released the names of several analysts who got a top spot this year, saying it would provide a full list yesterday.
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