Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” first quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund appreciated 5.34% in the first quarter, trailing the Russell Midcap Growth Index, which returned 9.14%. Stock selection drove the fund to underperform in the quarter. IT, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary were the strongest performing sectors, while Energy and Financials were the principal laggards. Furthermore, defensive-oriented sectors, Health Care, Utilities, and Consumer Staples also struggled in the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Asset Fund highlighted stocks like Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) is an infrastructure solutions provider to the electric power, oil and gas, and communication industries. On May 1, 2023, Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) stock closed at $169.21 per share. One-month return of Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) was 4.03%, and its shares gained 42.18% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) has a market capitalization of $24.563 billion.
Baron Asset Fund made the following comment about Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“We initiated a position in Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) during the quarter. Quanta is a leading specialized contracting services company for the utility, energy, and communications industries. We think the company is well positioned to benefit from the substantial investment that will be required to build out both the existing electric grid and renewable energy production capacity to meet the country’s clean energy goals.
Investment in the electric grid is necessary not only to upgrade aging infrastructure and increase its reliability but also to connect it to sources of renewable energy. The nature of the electric grid is changing. It will increasingly be expected to meet the needs of a diverse energy landscape, as more intermittent renewable energy resources are added and more distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar, are connected. In particular, we believe that widespread adoption of electric vehicles will require substantial investment in the distribution grid. This is because the ensuing load requirements are well in excess of what the existing infrastructure can support, leading to necessary upgrades. The Inflation Reduction Act should accelerate these trends and give more than a decade of visibility into grid related investments. We believe these drivers create a robust backdrop for Quanta’s business…” (Click here to read the full text)
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Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 43 hedge fund portfolios held Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 47 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) in another article and shared the list of stock picks from Louis Navellier. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 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.
