Investment management company First Pacific Advisors recently released its “FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the fund returned 2.38% compared to a -1.06 % return for the Russell 2000 Value Index. For the full year, the fund returned 10.76% compared to an 8.05% return for the index. The firm’s focus is on long-term performance, aiming to outperform the Russell 2000 Value Index with less risk throughout the entire market cycle. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund emphasized stocks such as Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL). Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) engages in the publishing and distribution of children’s books worldwide. The one-month return of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) was 11.79%, and its shares lost 44.46% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 4, 2025, Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) stock closed at $21.07 per share with a market capitalization of $593.495 million.
FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) is an educational publishing company that runs the eponymous book fairs in America’s K-12 schools. We first bought shares in 2008, have added a little over time and received additional shares when we merged with the FPA Capital Fund. Over 15 years, results have been volatile as Scholastic has never been able to translate its name brand, publishing assets or forays into adjacent markets into consistent earnings. The company has always been inexpensive compared to its potential and owns some prime New York City real estate that we estimate to be worth $300 – $400 million. We were cautiously optimistic when Peter Warwick, from Thomson Reuters, took over as CEO in 2021. Poor execution this year caused the stock to drop 20% following results on July 19 and another 20% following results reported on December 20.”
A diverse group of children gathered in a bookstore perusing through a variety of titles.
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 14 hedge fund portfolios held Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 16 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) 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 addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.