ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Due to stock-specific weakness in a handful of holdings and a lack of exposure to several of the top-performing, higher-beta growth companies, the strategy underperformed its benchmark the Russell Mid Cap Growth Index in a momentum-driven market. Following Trump’s victory, small-cap, value, and cyclical shares saw a spike in price; however, growth stocks regained their lead by the end of the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. The one-month return of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was -12.45%, and its shares gained 27.21% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 8, 2025, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) stock closed at $57.92 per share with a market capitalization of $78.921 billion.
ClearBridge Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We also initiated a position in fast casual restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG). The recent pullback in shares related to a moderation in industry-wide restaurant sales and CEO Brian Niccol’s August departure created an attractive entry point into a company with industry-leading unit economics in a still underpenetrated market. Chipotle plans to double its store footprint over time while executing initiatives to increase volume growth through technology enhancements, reduced mobile order friction and higher production during peak hours. Better throughput, technological integration and improved mix should help to drive continued margin expansion. Chipotle further diversifies the portfolio, adding to consumer discretionary where we have historically had less exposure.”
A chef plating up a wide variety of dishes for a restaurant chain.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 69 hedge fund portfolios held Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) at the end of the third quarter which was 68 in the previous quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s (NYSE:CMG) sales grew 13% for the third quarter to reach $2.8 billion. While we acknowledge the potential of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) 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 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) and shared the list of restaurants and retail stocks that Jim Cramer talked about. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.