ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Growth Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Signs of inflation cooling, and an ambitious Federal Reserve rate-cutting cycle led to broad equity market gains in Q3, primarily driven by smaller capitalization companies. In the quarter value shares outperformed with the Russell Midcap Value increasing 10.08% compared to the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 6.54% gain. Against this backdrop, the strategy underperformed the Russell Midcap Growth Index benchmark. Idiosyncratic headwinds across a few of the Strategy's holdings hindered performance. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

ClearBridge Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) engages in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The one-month return of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) was 4.34%, and its shares lost 13.13% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 8, 2024, Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) stock closed at $134.35 per share with a market capitalization of $75.455 billion.

ClearBridge Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"We similarly sold our position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO), a global distiller and brewer, as the spirits category, excluding ready-to-drink, remains under pressure with no sign of a turn in volume, increased promotional expenses and continued destocking."

A close-up of bottles of whisky and other alcoholic beverages from a winery.

Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) at the end of the second quarter which was 30 in the previous quarter. Diageo plc's (NYSE:DEO) organic net sales declined 0.6% in fiscal year 2024, after three years of extraordinary top line growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) 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 Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) and shared Artisan Value Fund's views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.