ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge All Cap Value Strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy outperformed its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Value Index in the second quarter, due to strong stock selection in the IT and consumer discretionary sectors, which overcame weakness in consumer staples stocks. Despite significant market growth, the market’s breadth is dismal as the demand for AI businesses is starving the rest of the industry and raising concerns about how and when leadership will shift. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge All Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks like Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) operates retail stores that markets retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The one-month return of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) was -4.33%, and its shares gained 45.59% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 23, 2024, Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) stock closed at $495.15 per share with a market capitalization of $10.147 billion.
ClearBridge All Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Our holdings in the consumer discretionary sector also contributed to relative outperformance, primarily as a result of strong performance from convenience store and gas station operator Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA). A strong competitor earnings report in the period shows that Murphy and its well-positioned gas station peers continue to take market share from smaller operators who are struggling to keep pace with higher inflation and tepid volumes. As such, these smaller companies must charge steadily higher prices for their fuel, creating a growing and attractive pricing umbrella for Murphy and its lower-cost peers that will continue to underpin strong earnings growth for the foreseeable future.”
An exterior view of an illuminated gas station at night, surrounded by cars.
Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 27 hedge fund portfolios held Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) at the end of the second quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) 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 another article, we discussed Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) and shared The London Company Small Cap Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.