Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Even if uncertainty is high and volatility is expected to stay elevated in the market, the firm views these risks as short-term in the context of its long-term investment horizon. Ariel Small Cap Value Tax-Exempt Composite decreased -3.80% gross of fees (-4.04% net of fees) in the quarter, against this backdrop, lagging -3.64% and -3.28% returns of the Russell 2000 Value Index and the Russell 2000 Index, respectively. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks like The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) manufactures and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment. The one-month return of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) was 6.19%, and its shares lost 1.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 21, 2024, The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) stock closed at $139.76 per share with a market capitalization of $7.515 billion.
Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Additionally, leading food equipment manufacturer, The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD), declined in the period following an earnings miss driven by weaker-than-anticipated organic sales across the commercial, residential and food processing businesses. Importantly, management noted conditions are improving with channel inventories returning to normalized levels and order volumes trending in a positive direction. Meanwhile, profitability remains solid and MIDD continues to generate strong free cash flow. In our view, MIDD’s differentiated brands and kitchen innovations offer the latest in automation and advanced cooking technologies, positioning the company for growth and margin expansion as it serves the rapidly evolving needs of the food service industry.”
A professional kitchen bustling with activity, utilizing different pieces of Kitchen Equipment, such as Conveyor Ovens, Fryers, Steam Cookers and Warming Equipment.
The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) at the end of the second quarter which was 28 in the previous quarter. The Middleby Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MIDD) revenues for the second quarter were $992 million, up 7% from the first quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) 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 The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) and shared value investor Oldfield Partners’ top stocks picks. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
