Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Focus Fund” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. While uncertainty is high and volatility is expected to remain elevated, the firm considers these risks as short-term disturbances within the scope of its long-term investment strategy. In the second quarter, the fund returned -3.37% and underperformed the -2.17% return for the Russell 1000 Value Index and the +4.28% return for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Ariel Focus Fund highlighted stocks like APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) engages in oil and natural exploration, development, and production. The one-month return of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) was -8.40%, and its shares lost 34.65% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 28, 2024, APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) stock closed at $28.57 per share with a market capitalization of $10.568 billion.
Ariel Focus Fund stated the following regarding APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Oil and natural gas explorer, APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA), also traded lower in the quarter following an earnings miss. Weaker-than-expected production guidance and an upcoming increase in capital investment weighed on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, APA raised its cost synergy targets from the recent acquisition of Callon Petroleum Company, which stands to enhance the scale of the company’s existing Delaware Basin assets. The increased operational savings appear accretive to key financial metrics in late 2024 and beyond. APA’s wells continue to deliver strong performance in the Permian Basin. The company also is expressing confidence in its Suriname development. Management remains laser-focused on increasing the operational efficiency of the Callon assets, free cash flow generation and returning capital to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.”
Workers in hard hats and safety gear processing oil and gas in a US refinery.
APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) at the end of the second quarter which was 45 in the previous quarter. APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) announced $541 million in consolidated net income, or $1.46 per diluted common share, for the second quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) 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 APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) and shared Ariel Focus Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.
