Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Small Cap Fund” third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned 9.68% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter outperforming the Russell 2000 Growth Index’s 8.41% return and the broader Russell 3000 Index’s 6.23% return. For the first nine months of 2024, the Fund is up 14.74% compared to 13.22% and 20.63% returns for the indexes. In contrast to the narrow market leadership of previous periods, the market rally during the quarter saw strong performance across a broad range of sectors and market capitalization. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is an independent insurance distribution firm that delivers insurance and risk management solutions. The one-month return of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) was -11.67%, and its shares gained 146.58% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 20, 2024, The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) stock closed at $45.47 per share with a market capitalization of $3.072 billion.
Baron Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Insurance broker The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) contributed to performance after reporting second quarter financial results that exceeded Street expectations. Revenue grew 19% on an organic basis and EBITDA grew 22% despite a temporary margin headwind from a timing shift of profit-sharing commissions. Management reaffirmed their expectation of ongoing margin expansion while growing revenue organically at a double-digit rate. Falling interest rates also likely helped the stock, due to the company’s elevated leverage profile consisting primarily of variable rate debt. We expect the company to continue gaining market share while expanding margins and reducing leverage over the next several years.”
A portrait of a professional insurance broker at their desk, reviewing a policy.
The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 9 hedge fund portfolios held The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) at the end of the third quarter which was 11 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) 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 The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) and shared Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy’s views on the company. In the previous quarter investor letter, Baron Small Cap Fund stated that The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is well-positioned for sustained margin expansion and increased free cash flow. 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.