Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. It has been difficult to reflect on how the market has behaved recently because each month of this year has felt unique. The second quarter was no different. The fund fell 4.12% in the quarter compared to the Russell Midcap® Value Index’s 3.40% decline. Negative selection effect across seven sectors, led by Consumer Discretionary and Utilities partially drove the fund’s underperformance in the quarter. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) offers surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. The one-month return of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was 5.06%, and its shares lost 2.12% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 12, 2024, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) stock closed at $145.53 per share with a market capitalization of $9.68 billion.
Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
Industrials. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was our Strategy’s worst performer during the quarter, down almost 19%. But this is another example where self-help could set the stage to benefit from potential secular tailwinds.
J.B. Hunt is a leading intermodal shipping company. Customers hire Hunt to move freight using a variety of transportation modes to reduce cost and fuel consumption. This “agnostic” approach stands in contrast to most competitors who utilize a single mode of transportation. The company missed first quarter expectations, causing the stock to sell off in April. The truck load (TL) market is in a deep recession due to weak demand and too much capacity. Because TL is a substitute market for intermodal (normally a much-less-efficient substitute at that), the irrationally priced spot market, which tracks the cost to move single shipments by truck at current prices, has cut Hunt’s intermodal margins to their lowest levels in more than 20 years while forcing management to walk away from some contracted business as renewals occur…” (Click here to read the full text)
A truck on a highway, its exhausts billowing in the air.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) at the end of the first quarter which was 33 in the previous quarter. During the first quarter, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) experienced a 9% decline in revenue, a 30% decrease in operating income, and a 35% drop in diluted earnings per share compared to the last year. The decline was due to a mix of reduced yields, lower freight volume, and inflation-related cost pressures. While we acknowledge the potential of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) 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 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) and shared the list of best logistics 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.
