ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Value Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the strategy underperformed its Russell 1000 Value benchmark, driven by detractors in the energy and financials, overcame contributions from overweight to energy and underweight to IT. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, ClearBridge Value Strategy emphasized stocks such as Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE). Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) is an offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The one-month return of Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) was -19.90%, and its shares lost 63.54% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 8, 2025, Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) stock closed at $18.44 per share with a market capitalization of $2.93 billion.

ClearBridge Value Strategy stated the following regarding Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"Conversely, holdings in the energy sector, led by Venture Global and Noble, weighed on relative performance. Meanwhile, Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE), which provides offshore drilling services for energy E&P companies, continues to decline as contracting opportunities have failed to materialize. With our thesis that consolidation and rationalization would drive a meaningful up pricing cycle evaporating, we ultimately elected to exit the position to redeploy the proceeds into other, more compelling opportunities."

A drilling rig lit up by the setting sun, against a backdrop of outdoor exploration in Colorado and Wyoming.

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 38 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) 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.

We covered Noble Corporation plc (NYSE:NE) in another article, where we shared the list of oversold stocks to buy in 2025 amid inflation fears. 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.