Riverwater Partners, an investment management company, released its “Small Cap Core Strategy” Q3 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy outperformed its benchmark, the Russell 2000, both in the third quarter and year-to-date, driven by disciplined stock selection across a diverse range of sectors. Energy and IT were the top-performing sectors while Consumer Staples and Healthcare holdings detracted. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

Riverwater Partners Small Cap Core Strategy highlighted stocks like Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) manufactures and distributes electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions. The one-month return of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) was -12.19%, and its shares lost 48.31% of their value over the last 52 week. On December 30, 2024, Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) stock closed at $82.70 per share with a market capitalization of $2.872 billion.

Riverwater Partners Small Cap Core Strategy stated the following regarding Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"Another notable detractor in our portfolio was Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR), a provider of electrical power infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ATKR benefited from increased demand, but post-pandemic, a normalization in its end markets has led to a slowdown in both revenue and earnings. Additionally, the influx of Chinese products in some of its markets has created further pricing pressure. While we have reduced our position in ATKR, we remain optimistic about its long-term potential."

A technician on a ladder inspecting the electrical components of an industrial building.

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) at the end of the third quarter which was 37 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Atkore Inc.'s (NYSE:ATKR) net sales were $788 million and adjusted EBITDA was $140 million. While we acknowledge the potential of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) 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 discussed Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) and shared the list of oversold midcap stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 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.