Longleaf Partners, managed by Southeastern Asset Management, released its “Partners Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned -5.14% in the first quarter, compared to the S&P 500’s -4.27% return and Russell 1000 Value’s 2.14% return. The firm’s stock price performance was volatile, but its confidence in future returns grew as the quarter progressed. The firm invested in quality companies that it thinks are strong and resilient to difficult circumstances. The portfolio has significantly outperformed the index, demonstrating this resiliency since the market peak on February 19^th. The rise of its underlying value per share outpaced the performance of the stock price during the quarter. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Longleaf Partners Fund highlighted stocks such as PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH). PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) is an apparel company. The one-month return of PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) was 6.31%, and its shares lost 35.17% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 17, 2025, PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) stock closed at $68.92 per share with a market capitalization of $3.63 billion.

Longleaf Partners Fund stated the following regarding PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH)– Global apparel brand PVH was a detractor for the quarter. Two key factors weighed on the stock price. First, consumer discretionary spending faced broad pressure, and PVH was no exception. Second, China placed PVH on its restricted list as trade tensions and tariff rhetoric between the US and China escalated throughout the quarter. PVH has done nothing wrong but was unfortunately selected instead of other companies in its industry. After the end of the quarter, PVH reported solid, flattish results in this tough environment and a new accelerated share repurchase authorization that led to the stock reacting nicely. The company still trades at a mid single-digit multiple of FCF that can grow, and our great partner Stefan Larsson is focused on closing this price to value gap."

A customer trying on a sports jacket in-store, showcasing the company's sportswear range.

PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 28 hedge fund portfolios held PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 27 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) 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 PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) and shared the list of stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. 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.