ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Small Cap Value Strategy” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The strategy underperformed the benchmark Russell 2000 Value Index in the fourth quarter. The strategy generated gains across eight of the 11 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter, on an absolute basis. Overall sector allocation and stock selection effects detracted from the performance on a relative basis. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
ClearBridge Small Cap Value Strategy featured stocks like Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) offers financial services. On March 13, 2024, Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) stock closed at $3.6500 per share. One-month return of Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) was -5.44%, and its shares gained 28.52% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) has a market capitalization of $124.94 million.
ClearBridge Small Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Stock selection in the financials sector was the greatest detractor from relative performance. Several of our banking stocks, such as Bank OZK, saw their share price rise during the quarter as investors anticipated Fed rate cuts that would reduce deposit costs while retaining economic strength. However, this was not the case for some of our consumer finance companies that faced increased investor scrutiny despite economic optimism. This was particularly true of our worst-performing individual holding, Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT), and lease-to-own financier PROG Holdings. Both companies have substantial client bases among low-income customers with lower credit scores, and both saw share price declines after releasing reports showing rising credit losses in the third quarter. As a result, we made the decision to exit Oportun, while retaining PROG, as Oportun’s lower level of liquidity, longer path to profitability and relative size of customer losses reduced our confidence in the company. However, we maintain conviction in PROG’s strong credit underwriting decisions and relatively short portfolio duration, which we believe are contributors to a more resilient and profitable business than Oportun’s.”
Adults in a professional office, handling financial documents.
Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) was held by 12 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 10 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) in another article and shared ClearBridge Small Cap Value Strategy’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.
