Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company, released its “Value Equity Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equity market started the year with a modest decline, with the S&P 500 Index declining 4.27% during the quarter. Conversely, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index rose 2.78% during the same period. The composite returned 0.78% gross of fees (0.73% net of fees) in the first quarter underperforming the 2.14% return of the Russell 1000 Value Index and outperforming -4.27% return of the S&P 500 Index. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, Aristotle Value Equity Strategy emphasized stocks such as Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD). Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services. The one-month return of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) was -6.59%, and its shares gained 19.68% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 14, 2025, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) stock closed at $272.58 per share with a market capitalization of $60.643 billion.
Aristotle Value Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Founded in 1940 and with headquarters in Pennsylvania, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) and Chemicals is a leading global supplier of industrial gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, helium, hydrogen and others. These essential gases serve critical roles across a wide range of industries, such as refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, healthcare, and food manufacturing and packaging. Air Products is the leading global supplier of hydrogen, with a robust distribution network across North America.
Roughly 50% of the company’s revenue is generated through onsite delivery. This method usually entails 15- to 20-year contracts where Air Products builds a facility at the customer’s site or nearby (or delivers the gases through pipeline systems).
These long-term contracts tend to include pass-through and take-or-pay provisions, which provide stability and predictability of cash flows. The company’s merchant gases (roughly 35% of revenue) are delivered in bulk by tanker in either liquid or gas form, usually under five-year contracts, providing a steady but more variable revenue stream. Smaller quantities can also be delivered to customers, usually packaged in cylinders. (This business represents less than 15% of revenue.) …” (Click here to read the full text)
A line of workers in a refinery wearing protective suits and masks, overseeing the production process of specialty gases.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 60 hedge fund portfolios held Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 45 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) 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.
We covered Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in another article, where we shared the list best hydrogen stocks to buy according to billionaires.. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.
