Oakmark Funds, advised by Harris Associates, released its “Oakmark Global Select Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned -4.96% in the quarter compared to a -0.16% return for the MSCI World Index (net). The fund generated 7.37% since its inception, compared to the index’s 7.61% return over the same period. The largest contributing sectors were communication services and financials, while the largest detractors were health care and consumer discretionary. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Oakmark Global Select Fund highlighted stocks like Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) engages in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The one-month return of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) was -8.88%, and its shares lost 17.01% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 15, 2025, Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) stock closed at $115.94 per share with a market capitalization of $64.409 billion.
Oakmark Global Select Fund stated the following regarding Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) is a global producer, distributor and marketer of premium drinks with more than 200 brands and sales in nearly 180 countries. The U.K.-based holding company’s portfolio includes leading brands, such as Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Don Julio, Crown Royal, Smirnoff, Baileys, Casamigos and Captain Morgan. As a market leader, Diageo’s scale provides meaningful competitive advantages in terms of distribution and marketing, which enables the company to invest more than its peers while still generating strong returns on capital. In addition, we like that the company’s portfolio is well diversified by geography and category, which helps mitigate against earnings volatility related to economic cyclicality and shifting consumer preferences. Industry destocking and what we believe is temporary weaker demand have weighed on the share price recently, which provided an attractive re-entry point to invest in this dominant beverage company at a below-average price.”
Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) at the end of the third quarter which was 31 in the previous quarter. Diageo plc’s (NYSE:DEO) group organic net sales declined 0.6% in fiscal year 2024, after three years of extraordinary top line growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) 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 Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) and shared the list of best liquor stocks to buy according to short sellers. 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.