ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Dividend Strategy” third quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The strategy underperformed its S&P 500 Index benchmark in the third quarter. The strategy gained from three of the eleven sectors it invested in during the quarter on an absolute basis. Stock selection detracted while sector allocation contributed positively on a relative basis. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
ClearBridge Dividend Strategy highlighted stocks like Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) in the third quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in New York, New York, Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) is a private equity firm. On October 10, 2023, Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) stock closed at $89.79 per share. One-month return of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) was -0.89%, and its shares gained 85.90% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) has a market capitalization of $51.695 billion.
ClearBridge Dividend Strategy made the following comment about Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“In financials, shares of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO), a longtime holding of ours, were particularly strong in the third quarter and served as a major contributor to overall performance. Apollo is the classic example of taking 10 years to become an “overnight success.” In 2009 Apollo invested a de minimus amount of money in Athene, a start-up retirement services company, and became the asset manager for Athene’s investment portfolio.
Athene sells fixed annuities: straightforward retirement products that offer guaranteed payments to their policy holders. The Global Financial Crisis had devastated the annuity industry and Athene’s founders spied opportunity. While traditional players were sidelined, Athene entered the market with a clean balance sheet and no legacy liabilities.
Fast forward 14 years, and Athene is now the largest issuer of fixed annuities and one of the largest competitors in the space. Athene sold $3 billion in policies annually 10 years ago and is on track to sell over $60 billion this year. As Athene’s franchise has grown, Apollo’s asset management business and earnings have soared.
In the last six months, investors have finally begun to admire what we have long seen in Apollo: a uniquely powerful franchise, positioned to compound earnings in the teens and yet trading at a modest valuation. Apollo is up 58.8% since mid-March and rose 16.9% in the third quarter, and yet still trades at a P/E of just 11.8x. Earnings growth alone should continue to power shares higher. We believe Apollo’s multiple could expand meaningfully as well.”
An graph of investments with a close up of a hand pointing to a particular asset on a financial chart. Editorial photo for a financial news article. 8k. –ar 16:9
Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 62 hedge fund portfolios held Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) at the end of the second quarter, which was 65 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) in another article and shared the list of best aluminum and aluminum mining stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 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.
