Is AutoZone (AZO) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

Weitz Investment Management, an investment management firm, published its “Hickory Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of +6.54% was recorded by the fund in the fourth quarter of 2021, outperforming its Russell Midcap benchmark that delivered a +6.44% return. For the calendar year, the Fund returned +20.32% compared to +22.58% for the index. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Weitz Investment Management Hickory Fund in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) and discussed its stance on the firm. AutoZone, Inc. is a Memphis, Tennessee-based retail company with a $41.8 billion market capitalization. AZO delivered a -11.50% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -4.76%. The stock closed at $2,030.17 per share on February 3, 2022.

Here is what Weitz Investment Management Hickory Fund has to say about AutoZone, Inc. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“The Fund’s investments in auto-related businesses were consistent top performers in 2021. Shortages of new vehicles have driven buyers into the used car market. AutoZone has won new customers who need to maintain vehicles they now plan to own longer (and federal stimulus checks have given car owners some extra cash to spend on car maintenance).”

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Our calculations show that AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. AZO was in 35 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 34 funds in the previous quarter. AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) delivered a -12.81% return in the past 3 months.

In November 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on AZO 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.