Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Strategic Growth Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. stock market had another successful time in the third quarter of 2024, with the S&P 500® Index growing for the fourth consecutive quarter, which hasn’t happened since Q4 2021. This year’s first three quarters have seen the best performance for the S&P 500® Index since 1997. However, it was still slightly below the remarkable start of 2023. In the third quarter, the strategy returned +5.49% net-of-fees compared to +3.19% and +5.89% returns for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the S&P 500 Index. With interest rates that are not exceptionally high by historical standards, the market seems to be starting an easing cycle, which could encourage additional increases. Kindly check the top 5 stocks of the strategy to know its best picks in 2024.
Mar Vista Strategic Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) is a fast-moving consumer goods company that operates through Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream segments. The one-month return of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) was -2.84%, and its shares gained 25.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 2, 2024, Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) stock closed at $59.91 per share with a market capitalization of $148.31 billion.
Mar Vista Strategic Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We resumed our investment in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL). We divested our Unilever position in 2022, following the company’s failed attempt to acquire GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) consumer health business. That proposed deal, characterized by its exorbitant price tag and a strategic shift from incremental to transformative acquisitions, eroded our confidence in Unilever’s capital allocation capabilities. The strategic misstep, coupled with a shareholder revolt and a negative stock price reaction, ultimately led management to abandon the acquisition.
Since our departure, Unilever has hired a new CEO and demonstrated a renewed commitment to enhancing shareholder value through a more disciplined approach to acquisitions and divestitures. Trian’s involvement in Unilever, including their investment and Nelson Peltz’s board position, has positively impacted the company’s capital allocation strategy…” (Click here to read the full text)
A supermarket shelf overflowing with a variety of fast-moving consumer goods.
Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 22 hedge fund portfolios held Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) at the end of the third quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter. Unilever PLC’s (NYSE:UL) underlying sales surged 4.5% in the third quarter, fueled by a 3.6% acceleration in volume growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) 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 Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) and shared the list of best UK stocks to invest in. 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.