Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Mar Vista Focus strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500®Index rose for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q3 2024, indicating a good period for the U.S. stock market. In the third quarter, the strategy returned +3.39% net-of-fees compared to +3.19% and +5.89% returns for The Russell 1000 Growth Index and the S&P 500 Index. The market appears to be entering an easing cycle, with interest rates not exceeding historical norms, perhaps boosting gains. Kindly check the top 5 stocks of the strategy to know its best picks in 2024.
Mar Vista Global Strategy highlighted stocks like Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is an industrial gas company. The one-month return of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) was 0.75%, and its shares gained 13.45% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 2, 2024, Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) stock closed at $458.30 per share with a market capitalization of $217.752 billion.
Mar Vista Global Strategy stated the following regarding Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is the world’s largest, global industrial gas producer. The company enjoys the highest profit margins and returns on capital in the industry. Linde’s primary products are atmospheric gases and process gases. Industrial gases have benefitted from secular growth trends in decarbonization and carbon sequestration. Moreover, the opportunity in blue and green ammonia and hydrogen are substantial. Projects in these areas are quickly being added to its backlog for future growth. We see these secular trends as long-term positives for Linde and the entire industrial gas industry.
Linde believes it can grow its volumes with new applications; the buildout of small, on-site plants using its technologies; and focusing on growing geographies such as India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Brazil. Despite the long-term growth opportunities, recent demand trends have slowed due to weak global industrial production and a challenging year-over-year comparable. Among the regions, the U.S. remains resilient, with volumes flat to slightly negative. Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and China are all sending mixed to negative economic signals. We believe these slower trends are transitory in nature, providing an opportunity to purchase shares in Linde at attractive prices.”
A scientist in a lab coat inspecting a cylinder filled with industrial gas.
Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 63 hedge fund portfolios held Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) at the end of the third quarter which was 63 in the previous quarter. The third quarter sales of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) was $8.4 billion, up 2% from last year and 1% sequentially. While we acknowledge the potential of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) 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 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) and shared the list of best UK stocks to invest in. Aristotle Focus Growth Strategy added Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) to its portfolio during Q3 2024, due to its strong backlog, pipeline, and management’s focus on operational discipline. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.