Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTQX returned -5.37%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of -5.34%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned -5.28, compared to a -3.40% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. Markets contracted in Q2 after widespread market participation drove US stocks upward in late 2023 and early 2024, with a few mega-cap technology names pushing the S&P 500 Index to all-time highs. Healthcare and consumer discretionary holdings held back the portfolio’s performance relative to the index. Financials, industrials, and technology holdings outperformed on the positive side. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) is a provider of various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities. The one-month return of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) was 7.04%, and its shares lost 21.47% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 6, 2024, Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) stock closed at $88.98 per share with a market capitalization of $8.21 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Our overall biggest detractor was Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL), a provider of life insurance, health insurance and investment products and services. Shares fell abruptly on a short seller’s report alleging widespread insurance fraud by Globe Life involving the writing of fictitious policies and artificially inflated financials. The one-day selloff wiped out over 50% of the company’s market value, but the stock has since recovered more than half of that loss. The company denied the allegations, retained outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation and is cooperating with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Per the recent 10-Q, management does not believe the DOJ investigation will result in a material liability. Our investment thesis on Globe Life over the years has been underpinned by its slow growth, conservative balance sheet and robust free cash flow returned to shareholders via buybacks and dividends. It is the tortoise to the market’s hare. Events outside the short seller’s report have the team reviewing how much tech-infrastructure upgrades Globe Life may need to boost its internal processes and controls. While we question much of the short report’s accuracy, we nonetheless take the allegations and the market’s reaction seriously and are evaluating our investment case.”
A close-up of a life insurance policy with a middle-and lower-income family in the background.
Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 38 hedge fund portfolios held Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) at the end of the first quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) reported net income of $258 million or $2.83 per share compared to $215 million or $2.24 per share in Q2 2023 and net operating income of $271 million or $2.97 per share up 14% from Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) 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 Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) and shared the list of best undervalued stocks to buy. 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.
