We recently published a list of Ken Griffin Stock Portfolio: 10 Stocks to Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) stands against other Ken Griffin’s portfolio stocks to buy.
One of Wall Street’s Greatest
Ken Griffin, the visionary founder of Citadel Investment Group, launched his hedge fund in 1990 with $4.2 million, achieving unprecedented success. In 2022, Griffin’s fund delivered an extraordinary 153% return, driven by accurate bets on inflation and interest rates. With a portfolio now exceeding $518 billion, Citadel Investment Group is one of Wall Street’s most closely watched hedge funds, consistently achieving over 25% annual returns since 2016. Citadel employs a multi-strategy investment approach, combining long and short positions to capitalize on market opportunities. Its flagship fund, Wellington, anchors Citadel’s operations by investing across multiple asset classes and sectors, emphasizing diversification. In 2022, Wellington achieved an impressive 38% return, building on 26% in 2021 and 24% in 2020. Notably, the fund posted a 19.4% gain in 2019, more than double its 9.1% return in 2018.
While Griffin’s legacy is strongly tied to Citadel’s hedge fund, a significant portion of his Forbes-calculated net worth comes from Citadel Securities, valued at $22 billion after Sequoia and Paradigm acquired a small stake two years ago. Citadel Securities has redefined modern trading, challenging the traditional dominance of big banks. In just two decades, it has become the largest stock buyer and seller in the U.S.; in August, it facilitated more equity trading within its electronic network than the New York Stock Exchange’s main market. In 2023, Citadel Securities generated $2.8 billion in profit from $6.3 billion in net revenue, with an impressive $4.9 billion in net revenue achieved in the first half of 2024 alone.
READ ALSO: Cathie Wood’s 11 Favorite AI Stocks and Jim Cramer November Portfolio: Top 10 Stocks.
The billionaire also ranks among the top donors to outside spending groups for the 2024 election, which secured former President Donald Trump a second term. As the founder and CEO of Citadel, he contributed $100 million to conservative causes, making him the fifth-largest individual contributor to federal election spending, according to Federal Election Commission data. While Griffin has donated millions to Republican candidates, particularly since 2022, he has notably refrained from directly supporting Trump’s campaign. A self-described “Reagan Republican,” Griffin has historically favored establishment-focused Super PACs, such as the Congressional Leadership Fund.
Our Methodology
For this our list of the 10 best stocks in Ken Griffin’s portfolio, we examined Citadel Investment Group’s stock portfolio from the third quarter of 2024. The stocks are ranked based on the firm’s stake value in each holding.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A line of cable boxes and modern televisions, representing the company’s video services.
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)
Citadel Investment Group’s Stake: $602.9 million
Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), operating under the Spectrum brand, is a leading telecommunications and mass media company in the U.S. It provides services such as high-speed internet, digital cable television, and home phone services.
In October, Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) partnered with Comcast to offer its cable TV customers free access to the Peacock streaming service, aiming to retain subscribers amid the growing dominance of streaming platforms. Additionally, Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) secured agreements with major content providers like Warner Bros. Discovery to expand its streaming offerings.
For the third quarter, Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) reported a net income of $1.3 billion and free cash flow of $1.6 billion, alongside capital expenditures of $2.6 billion. While the company lost 110,000 internet customers, it added 545,000 Spectrum mobile lines, resulting in a 1.6% revenue increase and a 3.6% rise in adjusted EBITDA. However, management anticipates losing 100,000 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) internet subscribers in Q4 2024.
On November 5, Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan raised Charter’s price target to $450 from $440, maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The adjustment followed Charter’s earnings report, prompting an updated evaluation of its 2025 financial outlook.
Parnassus Value Equity Fund stated the following regarding Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we added new positions in Pfizer, NICE and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR). NICE is a leading cloud contact center software company. Charter’s stock had fallen due to near-term concerns, which we believe will not have a major impact on the long-term value of the business. Charter Communications has had several issues that created short-term uncertainty. We assessed that these issues have limited impacts on the long-term value of the business and initiated a position to take advantage of the stock’s historically low valuation.”
Overall, CHTR ranks 7th on our list of Ken Griffin’s portfolio stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of CHTR, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CHTR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
