Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTMX returned -5.73%, Advisor Class fund APDMX posted a return of -5.67%, and Institutional Class fund APHMX returned -5.64%, compared to a -3.21% return for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. The portfolio generated negative absolute returns and underperformed the index in the second quarter. Modest negative security selection across multiple sectors, including information technology, industrials, communication services, and health care led to the underperformance and was partially offset by outperformance within consumer discretionary. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Artisan Mid Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) is a swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products distributor. The one-month return of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) was -0.29%, and its shares lost 5.86% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 16, 2024, Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) stock closed at $336.90 per share with a market capitalization of $12.913 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“We ended our investment campaigns in Five Below, Roblox and Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) during the quarter. Pool Corp is the largest wholesale distributor of pool supplies and related outdoor living products. The company commands a leading market share of the pool product distribution market, nearly 4X the next largest competitor. Current demand has softened due to higher interest rates and a pandemic-driven spike in new pool construction that pulled forward demand. We originally believed the ~60% of Pool’s more recurring, maintenance-related sales would help investors look past these short-term trends. However, the downturn in new pool construction has lasted longer than we expected, and we decided to move on in favor of more attractive opportunities.”
Aerial view of a swimming pool with outdoor furniture surrounding it.
Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) at the end of the first quarter which was 42 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) reported $1.1 billion in net sales, down 7% year over year. While we acknowledge the potential of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) 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 Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) and shared Wedgewood Partners’ views on the company in the previous quarter. Artisan Partners Mid Cap Fund reduced its holding in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) in the previous quarter based on valuation discipline. 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.
