Conestoga Capital Advisors, an asset management company, released its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. At its September meeting, the Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds rate by 50 basis points due to weaker employment growth and moderate inflation. Equity markets welcomed the news, raising optimism for a soft landing in the U.S. economy. On September 26th, the S&P 500 Index achieved a record high, the Russell 2000 Index also moved higher over the quarter but remains roughly 10% below its all-time high. The Conestoga Small Cap Composite surged 10.09% (net) in the third quarter outperforming the Russell 2000 Growth Index’s 8.41% return. The Conestoga SMid Cap Composite returned 12.94% (net) versus the Russell 2500 Growth Index’s 6.99% return. The Conestoga Micro Cap Composite advanced 7.60% (net) but trailed the Russell Microcap Growth Index’s return of 8.57%. Finally, the Conestoga Mid Cap Composite returned 8.36% (net) outperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 6.54%. Please check the top 5 holdings of the fund for a better understanding of their best picks for 2024.
Conestoga Capital Advisors highlighted stocks like National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) provides analytics and insights for the measurement and enhancement of the patient and employee experience. The one-month return of National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) was -15.37%, and its shares lost 54.89% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 21, 2024, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) stock closed at $18.83 per share with a market capitalization of $449.497 million.
Conestoga Capital Advisors stated the following regarding National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) is a provider of survey-based performance measurement, analysis, tracking, and improvement service to the healthcare industry. Our decision to sell NRC was based on the company’s revenue growth underperformance versus our expectations, and the lack of conviction that growth will reaccelerate. The proceeds of the sale were reinvested in higher conviction names within the portfolio.”
A healthcare professional using a digital device to provide a health risk assessment to a patient.
National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 13 hedge fund portfolios held National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) at the end of the second quarter which was 16 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) 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 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.