Madison Investments, an investment advisor, released its “Madison Sustainable Equity Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the S&P 500 had a total return of -4.3%, with a significant -5.6% drop in March. This decline was mainly due to the impact of tariffs, which hurt business and consumer confidence. Expectations for strong economic growth and deregulation have decreased as the new administration’s trade priorities have become clearer. The strategy returned -3.32% (Gross) in the quarter compared to -4.27% for the index. Both sector allocation and security selection were positive during the quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Madison Sustainable Equity Strategy highlighted stocks such as Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN). Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is an industrial gas company. The one-month return of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) was 3.15%, and its shares gained 6.53% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 11, 2025, Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) stock closed at $468.54 per share, with a market capitalization of $220.553 billion.
Madison Sustainable Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) reported mixed fourth quarter results but provided 2025 earnings per share (EPS) guidance representing 8% to 11% growth excluding the impact of foreign currency. At the time of reporting, foreign currency is estimated to have a 4-percentage point impact to 2025 earnings. During the fourth quarter, volume and sales were flat year-over-year but operating profit was up 9% and EPS were up 11% driven by price, strong cost controls, and productivity. Despite near-term economic uncertain ties, Linde’s management has a strong track record of creating shareholder value due to its disciplined capital allocation and management actions.
Linde, the industrial gas company, emphasized its leadership position in sustainability during its fourth-quarter earnings call earlier this year. This includes continual investment in its own people and the surrounding communities where it operates to improve the environment. Maintaining a safe and diverse workforce is a top priority for the company to ensure the durability of its competitiveness. In 2024, over 40% of its total power consumption was low carbon based. Linde has been recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 22nd year.”
A scientist in a lab coat inspecting a cylinder filled with industrial gas.
Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 75 hedge fund portfolios held Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) at the end of the first quarter, which was 70 in the previous quarter. Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) reported sales of $8.1 billion in the first quarter, which was flat compared to Q1 2024 and down 2% sequentially from Q4 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
In another article, we covered Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) and shared the list of best materials stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.
