Here’s Why ClearBridge Investments Remains Confident in Air Products (APD)

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Large Cap Value Strategy” first quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy underperformed its Russell 1000 Value Index benchmark during the first quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains in four of the 11 sectors in which it was invested for the quarter. The strongest contributions came from the energy, utilities, and health care sectors. The information technology (IT), materials, and consumer discretionary sectors were the main detractors. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments Large Cap Value Strategy mentioned Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1940, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)  is an Allentown, Pennsylvania-based chemical industry company with a $54.7 billion market capitalization. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)  delivered a -18.87% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -14.04%. The stock closed at $246.84 per share on April 15, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Large Cap Value Strategy has to say about Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“While commodities-exposed areas of the materials sector such as mining and steel fared well in the quarter, we tend to have less direct exposure to commodities across our portfolio. Holdings like industrial gas company Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) faced sharp input cost escalation, driving meaningful margin compression, which was not well-received by investors. While negative in the short term, we remain confident that the company will be able to adjust pricing accordingly and recover margins over the medium term.”

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Our calculations show that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) was in 40 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 32 funds in the previous quarter. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) delivered a -16.12% return in the past 3 months.

In March 2022, we published an article that includes Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in 10 Dividend Stocks Better Than Cryptocurrencies. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.