Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Discovery Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the fund appreciated 6.20% (Institutional Shares), outperforming the 4.50% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the fund returned 16.28% compared to the index’s 15.15% return. Given the challenging start in the first half of the year, the fund was pleased with the outperformance of the fund in 2024. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Discovery Fund highlighted stocks like Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities. The one-month return of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was -5.96%, and its shares gained 23.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 23, 2024, Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) stock closed at $18.77 per share with a market capitalization of $4.337 billion.
Baron Discovery Fund stated the following regarding Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we initiated a new position in multi-family REIT Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT). We believe the stock is attractive due to a favorable valuation level, continued robust demand outlook across its markets, and other idiosyncratic considerations.
IRT owns 33,000 apartment units that cater to a more affordable income demographic. We believe the return prospects for the stock continue to be appealing given 1) the company’s discounted public market valuation relative to both recent private market transactions and publicly traded peers that have communities in overlapping markets; 2) its “value-add” program that provides superior growth prospects versus peers; and 3) less new multi-family apartment supply in its markets go forward which will enhance IRT’s pricing power. Furthermore, we believe the broader market is under-appreciating the company’s additional cash flow growth from the lease-up of its two recently completed development projects. It is our view that the market is not embedding the associated cash flow from this lease up into the company’s earnings expectations.”
A close-up of a luxurious apartment building, surrounded by lush landscaping.
Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 19 hedge fund portfolios held Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) at the end of the third quarter which was 14 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) 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 Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) and shared the list of best housing stocks to invest in according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.