SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC, an investment management firm, released its “SouthernSun Small Cap Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the strategy returned -11.32% on a gross basis (-11.48% net) compared to a -9.48% return for the Russell 2000 Index and -7.74% for the Russell 2000 Value Index. The strategy returned -12.55% on a gross basis (-13.21% net) for the trailing twelve months compared to -4.01% and -3.12% respectively for the indexes over the same period. In addition, please check the top 5 holdings of the strategy to know its best pick in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, SouthernSun Small Cap Strategy highlighted stocks such as Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD). Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) offers thermal management products and solutions. The one-month return of Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) was 5.71%, and its shares lost 15.08% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 25, 2024, Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) stock closed at $81.13 per share with a market capitalization of $4.265 billion.
SouthernSun Small Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) is an over 100-year-old thermal management company based in Racine, WI. The company started out producing heat exchangers for tractors but quickly expanded into the automotive market and became a major supplier of heat exchangers to leading car manufacturers. As demand for automobiles increased significantly throughout the 20th century, Modine expanded operations globally. However, as the automotive market matured and became more competitive, MOD’s growth slowed, and the company went through numerous restructurings to take cost out of the business. The company attempted to diversify into the HVAC industry by buying Airedale in 2005 and Luvata in 2016, but management lacked a clear strategic vision, and the legacy automotive business continued to attract most of the time and resources.
In December 2020, MOD’s board decided new leadership was needed and hired Neil Brinker as CEO. Brinker was previously COO at Advanced Energy (AEIS) and had experience working at Idex Corporation (IEX) and Danaher (DANH) – both high performing industrials (we have been owners of AEIS and IEX and think highly of their business culture). After assessing the business, Brinker decided the company needed to move away from its legacy automotive parts businesses and shift resources into HVAC. He quickly implemented operational changes including reorganizing the business into 6 business units, hiring new general managers, implementing 80/20, and divesting low growth, low-margin automotive businesses. The changes yielded quick results with Adjusted EBITDA rising roughly 80% over three years…” (Click here to read the full text)
A technician in a factory, assembling a gas-fired unit heater.
Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 43 hedge fund portfolios held Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 32 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) 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 covered Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) and shared the list of best guru stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.