Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 Index increased by 2.4% in Q4, reaching a 25.0% gain in 2024. The past two years have been the best for the stock market since the 1990s, with AI excitement driving returns and strong earnings growth. The market’s on-going multiple expansion—the S&P 500 Index currently has its highest multiple this century, excluding COVID years—accounted for about half of 2024’s returns, with the other half coming from robust earnings growth. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund emphasized stocks such as Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN). Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) is a specialty materials company. The one-month return of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) was -11.90%, and its shares lost 2.05% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 17, 2025, Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) stock closed at $91.16 per share with a market capitalization of $10.5 billion.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We believe that Eastman Chemical Company’s (NYSE:EMN) performance, which detracted during the quarter, is more macro-related than company-specific. At its investor day in late November, the company issued favorable intra-quarter commentary and provided a bullish long-term financial outlook. However, sentiment for the broader chemicals industry softened in December. Investor concerns emerged over sluggish end-market demand and potential risks associated with policy changes under a new presidential administration.”
A close-up of a chemist in a white lab coat, mixing raw materials for specialty products.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 37 hedge fund portfolios held Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 26 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) 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 Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) and shared the list of best chemical stocks to buy according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.