Conestoga Capital Advisors, an asset management company, released its “Small Cap Strategy” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter of 2024 may be regarded as a time of moderation. Economic indicators largely reflected slowing growth and easing inflation. Equity markets are also driven by the moderation theme. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, rose 3.9% in the second quarter, however, small-cap stocks lagged again, with the Russell 2000 Index declining -3.3% and the Russell 2000 Growth Index declining -2.9%. Conestoga Small Cap Composite fell -5.59% in the second quarter compared to -2.92% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Stock selection was the major reason for the underperformance of the portfolio relative to the index. Please check the top 5 holdings of the fund for a better understanding of their best picks for 2024.
Conestoga Capital Advisors highlighted stocks like MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) develops, manufactures, and supplies safety products and technology solutions. The one-month return of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) was -5.74%, and its shares gained 3.56% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 15, 2024, MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) stock closed at $179.86 per share with a market capitalization of $7.078 billion.
Conestoga Capital Advisors stated the following regarding MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA): Founded in 1914 and based in Cranberry, PA, this company has as its core mission to protect people at work. The company develops, manufactures, and sells products that enable a safe and healthy environment for workers. MSA is a market leader in its segments, has a 20% ROE, is under levered and should grow its bottom-line earnings by over 10%. We purchased the stock after multiple channel checks reinforced the view that MSA is gaining share in Firefighter Equipment and that they should see strong demand in Fixed/Portable Gas Detection areas. MSA should also benefit from a new suite of connectivity products as well as efforts to improve margins in Europe.”
Workers assembling industrial head protection products on the production line.
MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) at the end of the first quarter which was 24 in the previous quarter. MSA Safety Incorporated’s (NYSE:MSA) second quarter sales were $462 million, up 4% on an organic constant-currency basis and 3% on a reported basis. While we acknowledge the potential of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) 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 MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) and shared the list of best mid-cap dividend aristocrats to buy. Conestoga Capital Advisors’ SMID CAP COMPOSITE established a position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) during Q4 2024. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
