Here’s Why ClearBridge Investments Decided to Consolidate its Petco Health & Wellness (WOOF) Stake

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Mid Cap Growth Strategy” second quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy underperformed the Russell Midcap Growth Index during the second quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had losses across all 10 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter (out of 11 sectors total). The leading detractors were the IT and consumer discretionary sectors, while the real estate sector was the smallest detractor. Go over the fund’s top 5 positions to have a glimpse of its finest picks for 2022.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy Fund mentioned Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1965, Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) is a San Diego, California-based retail company with a $3.8 billion market capitalization. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) delivered a 5.05% return and it closed at $14.34 per share on August 24, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy Fund has to say about Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“While we continue to have a favorable opinion of the online pet products retailer, we decided to consolidate our exposure to the pet industry within our existing holding Petco Health & Wellness (NASDAQ:WOOF), which is transforming its stores into omnichannel locations offering services such as grooming, short-term pet boarding and veterinary clinics in addition to traditional retail products such as pet toys and food. We used the proceeds from the sale to add to positions we believe offer greater upside potential.”

Our calculations show that Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) was in 21 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 23 funds in the previous quarter. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) delivered a -6.52% return in the past 3 months.

In June 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:WOOF) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q2 page.

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