ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Select Strategy” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The positive momentum in 2023 continued in the first quarter of 2024, the stocks surged on the expectation of a soft landing of the economy and a slowdown in rate hikes by the Fed. Against this backdrop, the S&P Index surged 10.56% and the Russell 3000 Index gained 10.02%. The strategy underperformed its Russell 3000 Index benchmark in the quarter. IT and industrial sectors were the primary contributors while the real estate sector detracted. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge Select Strategy highlighted stocks like Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) is an outdoor advertising company. Lamar Advertising Company’s (NASDAQ:LAMR) one-month return was -4.45%, and its shares gained 23.94% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 20, 2024, Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) stock closed at $114.99 per share with a market capitalization of $11.71 billion.
ClearBridge Select Strategy stated the following regarding Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“We also closed out of evolving opportunity Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the real estate sector, a position we built up during COVID and that has increased substantially in value. We believe the return to in-office within metro areas thesis played out and see better opportunities elsewhere.”
Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 24 hedge fund portfolios held Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) at the end of the first quarter which was 30 in the previous quarter. Lamar Advertising Company’s (NASDAQ:LAMR) revenues increased 5.3% for the first quarter on an acquisition-adjusted basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) 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 Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) and shared Artisan Value Income Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.