Here’s Why ClearBridge Value Strategy Sold Baker Hughes Company (BKR)

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Value Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the strategy outperformed its Russell 1000 Value benchmark. The strong contributions from financials and energy holdings overcame detractors in consumer staples. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

ClearBridge Value Strategy highlighted stocks like Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) offers technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain globally. The one-month return of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) was 3.49%, and its shares gained 37.25% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 10, 2025, Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) stock closed at $43.26 per share with a market capitalization of $42.807 billion.

ClearBridge Value Strategy stated the following regarding Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Our largest sell was Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR), which we made to fund our new position in oilfield service provider peer Schlumberger. While we acknowledge that Baker Hughes has stronger near-term tailwinds, its strong performance has resulted in a historically wide valuation gap to Schlumberger. Schlumberger has similar exposure to the oil and gas industry, but also has an improving portfolio of assets and greater digital initiatives that we believe will lead it to outperform Baker Hughes over the long run.”

A drilling rig on a remote oilfield, its tower silhouetted against a setting sunset.

Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) at the end of the third quarter which was 41 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) 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 Baker Hughes Company (NASDAQ:BKR) and shared the list of most profitable natural gas stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.