Third Avenue Management, an investment management company based in New York City, released its “Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the calendar year’s first half, the fund returned -1.66% (after fees) versus -3.17% (before fees) for the Fund’s most relevant benchmark, the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Developed Index. The Fund reported an annualized return of +8.40% (after fees) since its inception more than twenty-five years ago. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund highlighted stocks like WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) offers business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions. The one-month return of WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) was -9.67%, and its shares lost 2.47% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 7, 2024, WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) stock closed at $149.47 per share with a market capitalization of $7.348 billion.
Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund stated the following regarding WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Founded more than a century ago, WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) is a leading provider of commercial distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions on a global basis. Originally formed as a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric, Wesco has now operated independently for the past 30 years and is recognized for its leading positions in the distribution of parts and components underpinning electrical, communications, and utility-related property and infrastructure—a network that was bolstered further through its acquisition of wire and cable distributor Anixter International in 2020.
The distribution business is like most though—it has its tradeoffs. On one hand, a well-established network can act as a “quasi tax” on goods as they move throughout the supply chain, without the distributor having to take on manufacturing or development risk. On the other hand, the distribution of parts, components, and materials tied to discretionary investments can often be quite cyclical, leading to significant “swings” in working capital as well as obsolete inventories. Therefore, Third Avenue has always favored industry players with (i) entrenched positions within specific product categories, (ii) super-strong financial positions, and (iii) appropriate scale to “cross sell” products and services to enhance returns in what is otherwise a “low margin” business…” (Click here to read the full text)
A team of professionals operating high and medium voltage project design.
WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 50 hedge fund portfolios held WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) at the end of the first quarter which was 39 in the previous quarter. The second quarter results of WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) fell short of expectations (see the details here). While we acknowledge the potential of WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) 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 WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) and shared the list of best undervalued stocks to buy. 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.
