Aristotle Capital Boston, LLC, an investment advisor, released its “Small Cap Equity Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The volatility that was seen in 2024 persisted into the fourth quarter. From style perspective, value companies underperformed their growth counterparts during the quarter, with the Russell 2000 Value Index returning -1.06% while the Russell 2000 Growth Index returned 1.70%. In the fourth quarter, the strategy delivered a return of -0.46% net of fees (-0.31% gross of fees) underperforming the Russell 2000 Index’s 0.33% total return. Security selection drove the underperformance of the strategy in the quarter. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy highlighted stocks like Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) manufactures carbon fibers, structural reinforcements, honeycomb structures, resins, and composite materials and parts for commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications. The one-month return of Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) was 6.11%, and its shares lost 6.86% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 17, 2025, Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) stock closed at $66.35 per share with a market capitalization of $5.374 billion.
Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL), develops and manufactures structural materials for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial applications. As a leading supplier of carbon fiber, honeycomb and other composite materials for the aerospace industry the company’s financial performance has been negatively impacted by Covid-era disruptions and Boeing’s company-specific manufacturing problems. We believe the combination of company-specific self-help initiatives and an improving outlook for commercial aircraft build rates bodes well for improved financial performance from HXL.”
An engineer inspecting the assembly of an aircraft wing, intricately designed components in the background.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) at the end of the third quarter which was 38 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) 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 Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL) and shared TimesSquare Capital Management U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.