Middle Coast Investing, an investment advisor firm, released its third-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. It was a frustrating quarter for the firm. The portfolio appreciated in the quarter but lagged the main indices and closer benchmarks. The portfolio’s price to earnings for the trailing 12 months (TTM) was 19.7. Cash and equivalents accounted for 17.1% of the portfolio at the end of the quarter, with an estimated average yield of 3%. This compares to 13.4% of the portfolio and a 3.9% yield at the end of Q2. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Middle Coast Investing highlighted stocks like Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) manufactures and distributes electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions. The one-month return of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) was -1.56%, and its shares lost 40.84% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 7, 2024, Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) stock closed at $86.17 per share with a market capitalization of $3.09 billion.
Middle Coast Investing stated the following regarding Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is the most interesting case, and the most painful as our top loser for the second straight quarter. We have been waiting to see what the industrial maker of PVC pipes and metal conduits among other products will look like when things are ‘normal’. It jacked up prices during the pandemic, and those prices have declined for the last couple years. The latest earnings report made clear that management is not quite sure when the bottom hits.
On top of that, a customer sued Atkore and other PVC pipe companies, accusing them of price fixing and collusion. This echoed a short-seller argument against Atkore. The lawsuit is primarily pegged to circumstantial evidence as well as a PVC industry publication. If true, it would be a deal-breaker as far as management credibility. But it seems to be a tough case to prove, and conversely shows what a strong position Atkore has…” (Click here to read the full text)
A technician on a ladder inspecting the electrical components of an industrial building.
Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 37 hedge fund portfolios held Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) at the end of the second quarter which was 45 in the previous quarter. Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) reported $822 million in net sales in the fiscal third quarter of 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) 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 Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) and shared Harding Loevner Global Small Companies Equity Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.