Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTQX returned 5.61%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of 5.65%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned 5.71%, compared to an 8.23% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. Divergent sector positioning, including above-benchmark concentration in communication services and lower exposure in industrials, was a major contributing factor to the underperformance. Holdings in information technology, real estate, and consumer staples contributed to the strategy’s performance in the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) is a do-it-yourself moving and storage operator for household and commercial goods. The one-month return of U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) was -7.66%, and its shares gained 17.28% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 17, 2024, U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) stock closed at $63.40 per share with a market capitalization of $12.022 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“In the industrials sector, we had two detractors: CAE andU-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL). U-Haul owns and operates the largest fleet of rental trucks for the DIY mover and is the third-largest self-storage operator in North America. The stock has been digesting the huge move it made in the last two months of 2023, when it surged nearly 50%. U-Haul’s demand is closely tied to the housing market, and higher interest rates and home prices have been near-term headwinds for housing activity and mobility. Even so, U-Haul has long been a steady and growing business offering attractive returns on reinvested capital. From a financial perspective, the company does employ leverage; however, it is conservatively capitalized and generates strong owner earnings, resulting in a strong financial profile. The stock also sells for an undemanding valuation (~15X P/E).”
A line of rental trucks, trailers and portable units parked at a self-storage facility.
U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) at the end of the first quarter which was 24 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE:UHAL) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.