Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Appreciation Fund” first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, investors fled to shelter as hopes for another year of U.S. outperformance, driven by economic momentum and the new administration's pro-business approach swiftly gave way to tariff fears and policy uncertainty, causing most of the major U.S. indices to close the quarter in the red. Against this backdrop, the fund returned -6.94% in the first quarter underperforming the Russell Midcap Value Index’s -2.11% returns, and the Russell Midcap Index’s -3.40% returns. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Ariel Appreciation Fund highlighted stocks such as The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD). The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) manufactures and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment. The one-month return of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) was -17.55%, and its shares lost 10.00% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 17, 2025, The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) stock closed at $126.91 per share with a market capitalization of $6.81 billion.

Ariel Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"Shares of leading food equipment manufacturer The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) increased following management’s announcement that the company is conducting a strategic review of its business portfolio. The news came shortly after activist firm, Garden Investments, acquired a minority stake in the company to gain board representation. They are seeking a potential divestiture of the Food Processing and Residential businesses to unlock value in the Commercial Foodservice segment. While the shares have been under pressure given the challenging macro backdrop and related concerns around new restaurant openings, we view these headwinds as transient. Longer term, MIDD’s differentiated brands and focus on innovation should enable the company to benefit from secular demand for more automation and efficiency in the food service industry."

A professional kitchen bustling with activity, utilizing different pieces of Kitchen Equipment, such as Conveyor Ovens, Fryers, Steam Cookers and Warming Equipment.

The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 29 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) 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 cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) and shared Vulcan Value Partners' views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.