ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The third quarter experienced significant gains for U.S. equities, which recovered from a fear of slowing economic growth that had driven several asset markets into correction territory. A broad rebound was then induced by a 50 basis point interest rate drop by the Federal Reserve. The Russell 1000 Value Index generated a gain of 9.43% for the quarter. Against this backdrop, the ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy underperformed the benchmark Russell 1000 Value Index during the quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks like O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) is a retailer and supplier of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories. The one-month return of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) was 4.08%, and its shares gained 26.43% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 10, 2024, O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) stock closed at $1,171.36 per share with a market capitalization of $67.946 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Skepticism over the consumer has left some high-quality stocks with depressed valuations and allowed us to reduce our consumer discretionary underweight with the addition of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) and Starbucks. While we have been cautious on retailers for quite some time, auto parts retailer O’Reilly is a best-in-class, high-quality operator with high returns on invested capital and a solid history of consistent execution and sustainable share gain, and it enjoys rational competitive dynamics in the broader industry. In addition, auto parts retailing carries some counter-cyclicality as consumers tend to hold on to their cars longer, requiring more repair and maintenance, during softer economic environments. We think a high-quality franchise like O’Reilly trading at a reasonable valuation in an otherwise expensive market is worth our attention and we initiated a starter position.”
A mechanic working on a car in an auto shop, skillfully replacing the aftermarket parts.
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) at the end of the second quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) 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 O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) and shared the list of stocks that may be splitting soon. 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.