Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Russell Midcap Value Index ended Q4 somewhat lower, down -1.75%, after posting robust gains in Q3. The index provided a 13.07% return for the year. Following the US election, mid-cap value stocks experienced a significant rally with the larger US equity market, hitting all-time highs before declining in December. In the quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTQX returned -3.70%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of -3.67%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned -3.67%, compared to a -1.75% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund emphasized stocks such as Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG). Headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) is an automotive retailer. The one-month return of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) was -18.91%, and its shares gained 18.72% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 12, 2025, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) stock closed at $243.03 per share with a market capitalization of $4.774 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Our next largest new position was Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG), a franchised automative dealer. Our purchase of ABG was in conjunction with selling auto retailer AutoNation (AN). We like both companies. Auto dealerships are good businesses, and both companies are growing well. However, we prefer ABG’s business mix to that of AN as AN is investing more heavily in its used car dealership business, which we believe is a poorer use of capital, and its captive finance arm is more vulnerable in an economic downturn. ABG remains solely focused on buying and running top-quality dealerships, and it has the best margins in the industry. ABG is also selling cheaply. As we see it, the market still thinks auto dealerships are highly cyclical, not giving them enough credit for their steadily growing parts and services business, secular market share gains versus independent mechanics and retailers, and their penetration growth in the used car market.”
A customer smiling delightedly after driving away in their new car from the automotive retail shop.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 30 in the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) generated $4.5 billion in revenues, up 18% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) 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 Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABG) and shared the list of automotive stocks those are skyrocketing so far in 2025. 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.