Is Qurate Retail (QRTEA) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

Weitz Investment Management, an investment management firm, published its “Partners III Opportunity Fund” fourth quarter 2020 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 8.92% was recorded by the fund’s Institutional Class in the fourth quarter of 2020, below its S&P 500 benchmark that delivered a 12.15% return and Russell 3000 that had a gain of 14.68% in the same period. You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.

Weitz Investment Management, in their Q4 2020 investor letter, mentioned Qurate Retail, Inc. (NASDAQ: QRTEA) and emphasized their views on the company. Qurate Retail, Inc. is a Douglas County, Colorado-based media conglomerate that currently has a $4.96 billion market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, QRTEA delivered a 9.85% return, impressively extending its 12-month gains to 254.62%. As of March 30, 2021, the stock closed at $12.05 per share.

Here is what Weitz Investment Management has to say about Qurate Retail, Inc. in their Q4 2020 investor letter:

“The strongest performance for the calendar year came from Qurate Retail. Starting from a very low valuation, shares rallied as the business’s turnaround gained traction, in turn giving management the confidence to return a substantial amount of capital to shareholders, including distributing $3 per share in special dividends (more than one-third of the start-of-year stock price).”

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Our calculations show that Qurate Retail, Inc. (NASDAQ: QRTEA) does not belong in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, Qurate Retail, Inc. was in 36 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 41 funds in the third quarter. QRTEA delivered an 8.75% return in the past 3 months.