Chartwell Investment Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Carillon Tower Advisers, Inc., released the “Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the fund can be downloaded here. Significant interest rate volatility in the second quarter was caused by conflicting economic data and mixed inflation readings. As investors became less confident in the broader economy, the artificial intelligence (AI) boom persisted, and leadership in the equities markets kept decreasing. The Russell 1000® Growth Index, which tracks large-cap growth firms, increased by more than 8% while all other market sectors saw declines, creating an exceptionally sharp return gap. The Russell 2000® Value Index fell by about 4%, with small-cap value companies being the weakest. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) provides products and services to commercial aviation, government, and defense markets. The one-month return of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) was 9.80%, and its shares gained 13.30% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 4, 2024, AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) stock closed at $66.11 per share with a market capitalization of $2.37 billion.
Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) is an independent provider of aviation services to commercial and government customers worldwide. Very strong business trends in parts sales and repair services to airlines overcame weakness in military business. Slow deliveries of new airliners also gave investors confidence that demand will remain strong.”
A complex assembly line producing aircraft structures for aerospace applications.
AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 18 hedge fund portfolios held AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) at the end of the second quarter which was 24 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal year 2024, AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) reported record full year sales of $2.3 billion, representing a 17% year over year increase. While we acknowledge the potential of AAR Corp. (NYSE:AIR) 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 addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
