Aristotle Capital Boston, LLC, an investment advisor, released its “Small Cap Equity Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The third quarter showed substantial gains for small-cap stocks, with the Russell 2000 index providing a total return of 9.27%. In the third quarter, the fund delivered a return of 7.40% net of fees (7.57% gross of fees) underperforming the Russell 2000 Index’s 9.27% total return. Both security selection and allocation effects drove the underperformance of the strategy in the quarter. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.

Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy highlighted stocks like The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) independent insurance distribution firm that delivers insurance and risk management solutions. The one-month return of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) was -7.28%, and its shares gained 108.19% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) stock closed at $46.26 per share with a market capitalization of $3.088 billion.

Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy stated the following regarding The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN), a Florida-based insurance company operating in the advisory, underwriting, and Mainstreet (consumer/small business) segments, built on second-quarter momentum with above consensus earnings on account of business line growth and margin improvement. We believe the company is starting to benefit from investments in talent made over the past year as well as the launch of new products. We maintain a position as we believe the company should continue to benefit from a positive inflection in free cash flow, improving margins, and deleveraging."

A successful independent agent or broker discussing the benefits of life and health insurance with a customer.

The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 11 hedge fund portfolios held The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) at the end of the second quarter which was 14 in the previous quarter. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWIN) achieved 19% organic revenue growth in the second quarter, an increase from 16% in the first quarter. This growth was driven by a core increase in commissions and fees of 23%. While we acknowledge the potential of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) 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.