Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy” second-quarter investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund delivered 4.10% gross and 3.87% net of fees compared to a 7.05% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The firm believes that a time-tested and disciplined investment process and a portfolio built for resilience help to face the challenges of rapidly changing market sentiment. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) is a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand. On August 15, 2023, Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) stock closed at $7.15 per share. One-month return of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) was 30.71%, and its shares lost 56.27% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) has a market capitalization of $ 1.314 billion.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy made the following comment about Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)’s is a pool maintenance retailer with a long durable revenue and earnings history. The company caters to both the “do-it-yourself” consumer, as well as to smaller professional pool care businesses.
As the largest national retailer of pool maintenance supplies (larger than the next 20 largest competitors combined), the company leverages convenience, scale, and a recurring customer base to drive competitive advantage. While pool construction can be cyclical, the installed base of pools has grown consistently over the past several decades, driving steady and predictable growth in pool chemicals and consumables, accounting for 80% of Leslie’s sales. More recently, there has been some uncertainty regarding pricing, which has introduced more volatility in an ordinarily stable market. This volatility gave us a rare opportunity to own a growing business with high returns at an attractive risk reward.”
Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 22 hedge fund portfolios held Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) at the end of first quarter which was 27 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in another article and shared the list of stocks billionaire Chris Rokos is selling in 2023. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
