Optimist Fund, an investment management company, released its third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund appreciated approximately 28% in the third quarter, fueled by strong fundamental performance across its holdings. Over the first five years, the fund generated an annualized return of 11.5%, net of fees. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Optimist Fund highlighted stocks like Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) designs and manufactures in-ground residential swimming pools. The one-month return of Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) was 30.73%, and its shares gained 169.89% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 13, 2024, Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) stock closed at $7.53 per share with a market capitalization of $870.65 million.
Optimist Fund stated the following regarding Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) is the leading manufacturer of fiberglass pools in the United States that we believe is set to increase earnings materially over the next 5 years.
There are three types of pools: concrete, vinyl and fiberglass. Today fiberglass pools make up ~22% of new U.S. pool starts which has steadily increased from ~16% in 2019 and ~4% in 2000. Fiberglass pool penetration continues to take share from concrete and vinyl due to lower maintenance costs (i.e. from concrete cracking, or vinyl tearing), faster installation (a week versus months for concrete and vinyl), and nicer design and finish than vinyl and on par with concrete.
Because of said benefits, over the next decade we believe U.S. fiberglass penetration will surpass 30% which has already been evidence in other countries where market adoption started earlier…” (Click here to read the full text)
A luxurious pool area surrounded by lush vegetation, highlighting the customer experience of the company’s products.
Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 16 hedge fund portfolios held Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) at the end of the third quarter which was 13 in the previous quarter. Net sales of Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) for the third quarter were $150.5 million compared to $160.8 million prior year, down 6.4%. While we acknowledge the potential of Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) 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.
