Chartwell Investment Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Carillon Tower Advisers, Inc., released the “Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The market leadership shifted abruptly in the third quarter. Small and mid-cap stocks outpaced large caps, while value outperformed growth. Over the past 18 months, growth stocks, especially large and mid caps, have outperformed due to investor interest in artificial intelligence (AI). The Russell 2000® Value Index increased by more than 10%, with positive returns in ten of eleven sectors. Information technology was among the index's weakest sectors, trailing only energy. The top three sectors are communications services, real estate, and finance. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) is an independent natural gas and midstream company. The one-month return of CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) was -0.21%, and its shares gained 89.81% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 12, 2024, CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) stock closed at $38.36 per share with a market capitalization of $5.737 billion.

Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) is a gas exploration and production (E&P) company focused on the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale natural gas fields in the eastern United States as well as on legacy coal-bed methane assets. With interest rates falling, investors responded favorably to the company’s high free cash flow yield supported by its natural gas price hedges."

A long line of heavy-duty trucks transporting natural gas across a rural highway.

CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) at the end of the third quarter which was 29 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) 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.