ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge SMID Cap Growth Strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Strategy underperformed its Russell 2500 Growth Index benchmark in the quarter. Although there were strong contributions from a few companies across different sectors, the underperformance relative to the benchmark was minimal during the second quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge SMID Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) operates convenience stores under the Casey’s and Casey’s General Store names. The one-month return of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was 3.89%, and its shares appreciated 38.62% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 26, 2024, Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) stock closed at $373.76 per share with a market capitalization of $13.701 billion.
ClearBridge SMID Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Stock selection in the consumer staples sector also proved beneficial, primarily driven by our holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ). An operator of gas stations and convenience stores, Casey’s is now reaping the rewards of its aggressive reinvestment in its stores over the past decade, building its private label brand and broadening its product offerings. This has not only helped boost same-store sales but also encouraged repeat traffic, allowing the company to buck broader industry trends toward contraction in gas volumes and margins. Finally, the company’s strategy of choosing locations in smaller and more remote markets has afforded it stronger pricing power.”
A close-up of a hand selecting a food or beverage item from a store shelf.
Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) at the end of the second quarter which was 30 in the previous quarter. In the recent quarter, Casey’s General Stores, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:CASY) net income increased by 6% to $180 million, while its EBITDA increased by 9% to $346 million. While we acknowledge the potential of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) 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 Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) and shared Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund’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.