Investment management company Cove Street Capital recently released its “Small Cap Value Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The firm concluded an unsatisfactory fiscal year of operations. It owns a few not-so-good holdings and some delayed-gratification positions since the market generally dislikes small-cap value stocks. In the third quarter, the fund returned 3.70% (net of fees) compared to 9.27% for the Russell 2000 Index and 10.15% for the Russell 2000 Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) engages in providing broadband and communications products and services that operates through Satellite Services, Commercial Networks, and Government Systems segments. The one-month return of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was -24.83%, and its shares lost 31.52% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 7, 2024, Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) stock closed at $11.23 per share with a market capitalization of $1.435 billion.
Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT), E.W. Scripps (ticker: SSP), and Compass Minerals (ticker: CMP) were our biggest detractors this year. Each has specific fundamental problems, but they share perceptions of balance sheet issues that we would suggest are producing grossly negative viewpoints on their respective stock prices. Viasat just refinanced most of its debt stack which puts that to rest; Scripps has stated they will sell its Bounce TV network by the November earnings call; and Compass booted its CEO, and we believe we are days or quarters from a “for sale” sign. Not our finest moments, but all are stupid cheap in our opinion with real asset support. Recent Fed decisions should help here.”
Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 17 hedge fund portfolios held Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) at the end of the second quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) 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 Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) and shared top stock picks from Seth Klarman Stock Portfolio. In the previous quarter, Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund shared Viasat, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:VSAT) potential for a significant upside. 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.