In This Article:
Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company, released its “Value Equity Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equity market finished the year strongly with the S&P 500 Index increasing 2.41% during the quarter. Conversely, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index experienced a decrease, dropping 3.06% during the quarter. The composite returned -4.09% gross of fees (-4.14% net of fees) in the fourth quarter underperforming the -1.98% return of the Russell 1000 Value Index and 2.41% return of the S&P 500 Index. Security selection led the composite to underperform in the quarter relative to the index, while allocation had a slight negative impact. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
Aristotle Value Equity Strategy highlighted stocks like Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is a financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association that offers various financial products and services. The one-month return of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) was 6.90%, and its shares gained 49.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 17, 2025, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) stock closed at $190.97 per share with a market capitalization of $72.8 billion.
Aristotle Value Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
"Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) was a top contributor to performance during the quarter. There is now an increased likelihood its proposed $35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services will close in 2025. The deal, designed to create the largest credit card issuer in the U.S., initially faced scrutiny from the Biden-Harris administration due to antitrust concerns. However, Donald Trump’s election victory raised expectations for a more favorable regulatory environment under the new administration. If completed, the acquisition would make Capital One the sixth-largest bank and the second-largest credit card issuer by purchase volume in the U.S. Gaining Discover’s network—which is as widely accepted domestically as Visa, Mastercard and American Express—would enhance Capital One’s ability to streamline operations and capture greater value across a larger customer base as consumers increasingly shift from cash to digital payments."