Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Contrarian Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Strong economic signals and a positive inflation report lifted the market rally during the first quarter. The fund returned 6.25% during the quarter underperforming the 6.92% return of the Russell 2500 Index. However, the fund outperformed the 6.07% returns of the secondary benchmark the Russell 2500 Value Index. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Meridian Contrarian Fund highlighted stocks like Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) owns and operates a portfolio of renewable power and sustainable solution assets. The one-month return of Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) was -10.32%, and its shares lost 8.88% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 21, 2024, Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) stock closed at $29.03 per share with a market capitalization of $5.221 billion.
Meridian Contrarian Fund stated the following regarding Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) operates one of the world’s largest renewable power platforms with a global portfolio featuring hydroelectric, solar, and wind projects along with other assets. We became Brookfield Renewable shareholders in 2020 when the company bought a holding of ours, TerraForm Power, and the acquisition generated significant returns for the Fund. We remained shareholders post-merger because we believed Brookfield Renewable was a well-managed company with excellent assets and strong growth prospects trading at a reasonable valuation. We feel these characteristics still hold and the decline in the stock during the quarter was driven mainly by concerns that higher interest rates, with the U.S. Treasury 10-year bond yield rebounding during the quarter, could have a negative impact on industry growth due to higher financing costs and restricted access to capital. While these concerns are valid, we believe they are short-term in nature and that Brookfield Renewable’s financial strength and management acumen will allow it to benefit from opportunities created by weaker competitors to drive outsized future growth. In the meantime, the company offers an Caroline attractive dividend yield and above-average growth for the sector. We took advantage of what we viewed as temporary price weakness and increased our position during the quarter.”
Solar panels in an agricultural field, highlighting the company’s commitment to renewable energy.
Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the potential of Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE:BEPC) 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 addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.
