Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Fund” fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Global markets in 2024 exceeded forecasts, primarily due to the overwhelming success of the “magnificent seven,” or mega-cap technology stocks. Despite the concentration of gains, the optimism was fueled by the U.S. election results, solid earnings growth, and a healthy labor market. The fund returned -0.66% in the quarter trailing both the Russell 2500 Value and Russell 2500 Indices, which returned -0.26% and +0.62%, respectively. Ariel Fund increased +11.80%, outpacing the Russell 2500 Value Index’s +10.98% return and just short of the Russell 2500 Index +12.00% gain, over the trailing one-year period. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
Ariel Fund highlighted stocks likeAdtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) offers workforce solutions that provides degree and non-degree programs as well as online certificates. The one-month return of Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) was 7.90%, and its shares gained 94.20% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 28, 2024, Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) stock closed at $98.03 per share with a market capitalization of $3.68 billion.
Ariel Fund stated the following regarding Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Shares of global leader in for-profit education, Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE), also jumped following another robust quarterly earnings beat driven by accelerating new student enrollment growth and a subsequent raise in fiscal year 2025 guidance. Revenue per student at Chamberlain and Walden also came in better than expected on tuition increases. Meanwhile, we remain encouraged by management’s solid execution of remediation initiatives at the medical and veterinary schools, where revenue growth outperformed and total enrollment trends are improving. As the number one grantor of nursing degrees in the U.S. and the largest producer of African American MDs, PhDs and nurses in the country, we remain confident ATGE will benefit from the healthcare worker shortage in the U.S.”
A group of students in a lecture hall, with a professor lecturing to them in the forefront.
Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) at the end of the third quarter which was 23 in the previous quarter. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) at the end of the third quarter which was 23 in the previous quarter. Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) generated $417 million in revenues, reflecting a 13% increase compared to previous year’s quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) 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 Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE:ATGE) and shared Invesco Small Cap Value Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.