ClearBridge Investments: “Companies Like Avalara (AVLR) Will Be Key Players in the Democratization of E-Commerce”

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “SMID Cap Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the fourth quarter, the ClearBridge SMID Cap Growth Strategy outperformed its Russell 2500 Growth Index benchmark. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains across seven of the 10 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter (out of 11 sectors total), with the industrials sector the leading contributor, while the consumer discretionary and IT sectors were the primary detractors.  Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

ClearBridge Investments SMID Cap Growth Strategy, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in Seattle, Washington, Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) is a Seattle, Washington-based technology company with a $9.40 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Seattle, Washington. Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) delivered a -20.42% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -17.95%. The stock closed at $102.74 per share on March 28, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments SMID Cap Growth Strategy has to say about Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Avalara, which offers online tax compliance software for small and medium size businesses and increasingly enterprise customers, also saw its stock lose altitude with many high growth technology companions as some investors reduced financial leverage, although we are unaware of any fundamental disappointments. We continue to believe companies like Avalara will be key players in the democratization of e-commerce.”

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Our calculations show that Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) was in 34 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 24 funds in the previous quarter. Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) delivered a -21.74% return in the past 3 months.

In March 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Avalara, Inc. (NYSE:AVLR) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.