Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The stock market rose in 2024 and carried on through the fourth quarter, as investors welcomed the growing optimism following the presidential election. For the year, the S&P 500® Index (“S&P 500®”) increased by 25.0%, its second straight consecutive annual gain above 20%. In the fourth quarter, the strategy returned +0.39% net-of-fees compared to +2.74% and +2.41% returns for the Russell 1000® Index and the S&P 500® Index, respectively. Stock selection within information technology, healthcare, and real estate detracted from the fund’s performance during the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy emphasized stocks such as Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX). Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) is a data, analytics, and technology company that operates through Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International segments. The one-month return of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was -13.42%, and its shares lost 10.26% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 21, 2025, Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) stock closed at $238.03 per share with a market capitalization of $29.521 billion.
Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy stated the following regarding Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
We initiated a position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), which is a leader in the credit bureau and income and employment verification industries. These are data-intensive, asset-light businesses that enjoy high barriers to entry and scale advantages. Given the fixed cost structure of these markets, EFX enjoys strong operating leverage and expanding returns on capital. Although the credit bureau market is relatively mature, EFX continues to invest in new product development, geographic expansion and in acquisitions that grow its addressable market, which we believe should support above industry average growth.
EFX’s Workforce Solutions, the income and employment verification segment, is its largest and fastest growing business. The economic moat of the Workforce Solutions segment is tied to the ~125 million unique, non-farm payroll records it maintains, which provide a differentiated and comprehensive dataset. EFX continues to expand the Workforce Solutions offering to address multiple end markets that include mortgage, credit card, auto, government and employee background screening. We believe these investments, coupled with EFX’s market leading position and a normalization in the mortgage market, will support 20% intrinsic value growth over our investment horizon.”
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Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 49 hedge fund portfolios held Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 43 in the third quarter. Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) generated $1.419 billion in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 7% from Q4 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) 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 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) and shared Oakmark Equity and Income Fund’s views on the company. 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.