TCW Funds, an investment management company, released its “TCW Relative Value Large Cap Fund” Q3 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the third quarter, U.S. and European indices reached all-time highs, fueled by optimism surrounding central bank easing, decreasing inflation, rising hopes for a soft landing, and stimulus measures in China. In the third quarter, all sectors of the Russell 1000 Value posted gains, except for energy. The portfolio’s top ten average-weighted names returned 12.9%, on average, better than the portfolio and benchmark index. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
TCW Relative Value Large Cap Fund highlighted stocks like AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a telecommunications and technology services provider. The one-month return of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was -3.00%, and its shares gained 30.89% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 3, 2025, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) stock closed at $22.67 per share with a market capitalization of $162.664 billion.
TCW Relative Value Large Cap Fund stated the following regarding AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), based in Dallas, TX, is a nationwide provider of voice, video, and data communications services to businesses and consumers in the wired, wireless, and broadband. At initiation, the stock had a $141 billion market capitalization and met all five valuation factors with an above market dividend yield of 5.6%. From a sustainability prism, the company completed its commitment to invest $2 billion by the end of 2023 to help bridge the digital divide. AT&T is working on enabling low-income households to access to low-cost broadband services through its Access service plan as well as reaching out to more rural communities and Tribal lands where internet access remains a challenge. It is nearly 85% the way to providing one million people in need with digital resources through AT&T Connected Learning® with the goal to be reached by the end of 2025. In 2020, the company announced that it is committed to be carbon neutral by 2035 with zero carbon emission across all operations. It is deploying Smart Climate Solutions – through efforts like its Connected Climate Initiative – that will help enable its business customers to reduce their emissions as well. The company’s goal is to help collectively reduce its emissions by one billion metric tons – a gigaton – by 2035, compared to 2018 levels. The primary catalysts are new/strong management and restructuring. John Stankey was appointed CEO in July 2020 and he is committed to refocusing the company and improving its financial performance. The company combined its WarnerMedia operation with Discovery during 1Q:22 which eliminated AT&T’s exposure to the rapidly evolving media industry and refocused its core telecommunication business thus eliminating a major drag on profitability and the company’s balance sheet by reducing long-term debt from a peak $176 billion during 2020 to $142 billion at the end of June 2024 quarter. AT&T is moving aggressively to reduce cost and sell non-core assets such as its advertising platform Xander to Microsoft† which was accomplished during 2022. The company has redesigned its network to be software driven structure reducing the capital investment cycle in its national network – resulting in a network that is flexible with unrivaled speed and reliability – thus enhancing its nationwide position. By the end of 2023, it expanded its 5G network to reach more than 302 million people in nearly 24,500 cities and towns in the U.S. The company’s mid-band 5G+ network alone grew to cover more than 210 million people. AT&T is one of the largest investors in digital infrastructure in the U.S. Over the five years ending 2023, the company invested nearly $150 billion primarily in its wireless, fiber optics, and wireline networks. The extensive restructuring and refocusing of AT&T on its core business should result in improved earnings and cash flow while at the same time reducing uncertainty for shareholders.”
A technician in a telecommunication tower adjusting the receiver of a voice over internet protocol call.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 59 hedge fund portfolios held AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) at the end of the third quarter which was 71 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) 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 AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and shared the list of best dividend stocks to buy in January. 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.