Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Appreciation 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. Against this backdrop, the fund returned -0.53% in the fourth quarter compared to Russell Midcap Value Index’s -1.75% returns, and the Russell Midcap Index’s +0.62% gain. The fund traded +6.30% higher, over the trailing one-year period compared to +13.07% and +15.34% returns for the indexes. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Ariel Appreciation Fund emphasized stocks such as The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG). Headquartered in New York, New York, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) offers advertising and marketing services. The one-month return of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) was 1.07%, and its shares lost 10.67% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 4, 2025, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) stock closed at $28.80 per share with a market capitalization of $10.732 billion.
Ariel Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Lastly, marketing communication company, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) weighed on results over the period. IPG reported an earnings miss primarily due to several significant recent account losses. Subsequently, Omnicom (OMC) announced plans to acquire IPG in an all-stock deal. We believe this strategic combination will create value for both groups of shareholders by combining highly complementary data and technology platforms as well as enabling new offerings.”
A modern advertising billboard promoting a company’s services in the cityscape.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) at the end of the third quarter which was 30 in the previous quarter. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc.’s (NYSE:IPG) net revenue was $2.24 billion in the third quarter of 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) 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 The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) and shared the list of best marketing stocks based on the number of hedge funds holding them. 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.