Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Appreciation Fund” second-quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the Ariel Appreciation fund gained +5.04% ahead of the Russell Midcap Value Index’s +3.86% return while trailing the Russell Midcap Index’s +4.76% return. The average annual returns of Ariel Appreciation Fund (investor class) for the 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods ended June 30, 2023, were +15.95%, +6.14%, and +8.01%, respectively. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.
Ariel Appreciation Fund highlighted stocks like Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) is a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. On September 8, 2023, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) stock closed at $21.99 per share. One-month return of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was -24.36%, and its shares lost 39.97% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has a market capitalization of $18.996 billion.
Ariel Appreciation Fund made the following comment about Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“Shares of retail drugstore operator, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA), tumbled following an earnings miss and subsequent reduction in full year 2023 guidance and lower preliminary 2024 outlook. Challenging consumer and macroeconomic conditions, a significant decline in demand for COVID-related products and services, and a weaker respiratory season pressured margins. In response, management raised its cost savings program target and implemented capital spend reductions to optimize profitability for its U.S. Healthcare segment. As investors remain on the sidelines, we look to WBA’s free cash flow generation and 4.8% dividend yield to cushion further downside. With shares trading at a 62% discount to our estimate of private market value, we believe the risk/reward to be skewed sharply to the upside.”
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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 34 hedge fund portfolios held Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) at the end of second quarter which was 39 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in another article and shared the list of biggest supermarket chains in the US. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 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.
