Columbia Acorn Fund, distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, released its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, the fund returned 9.15% while the benchmark, the Russell 2500 Growth Index, returned 6.99%. A strong market rally occurred throughout the quarter, and the Columbia Acorn Fund beat its benchmark due to positive stock selection. With recoveries for smaller caps and several cyclical stocks, the third quarter witnessed a return to animal spirits following the previous quarter’s more risk-averse environment. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.
Columbia Acorn Fund 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 9.73%, and its shares lost 27.00% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 8, 2024, Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) stock closed at $95.31 per share with a market capitalization of $3.418 billion.
Columbia Acorn Fund stated the following regarding Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Atkore Inc.Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is a leading manufacturer of electrical products primarily for the non-residential construction and renovation markets, and safety and infrastructure products for the construction and industrial markets. Electrical products form the critical infrastructure that enables the deployment, isolation and protection of a structure’s electrical circuitry from the original power source to the final outlet. Atkore is the only vendor with meaningful share across PVC, steel and high-density polyethylene conduits making it easy for distributors and contractors to get all three with one order. Atkore has faced several headwinds recently including increasing pricing pressure and lower profitability due to Mexican steel conduit dumping as well as being named as one of the defendants in antitrust litigation filed against a group of PVC electrical conduit and water pipe manufacturers for price manipulation. A slower macro backdrop and limited visibility for future orders remain headwinds. We have added on weakness given the long-term secular tailwinds from the electrification of everything and highly attractive risk/reward proposition.”
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 ClearBridge Mid Cap 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.