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 Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals. The one-month return of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) was -24.10%, and its shares gained 3.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) stock closed at $14.11 per share with a market capitalization of $590.386 million.

Aristotle Small Cap Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC), a product and chemical transportation company focused on modern mid-sized vessels, drifted lower during the quarter as concerns over oil production and potentially weak Chinese growth weighed on the broader energy sector. We maintain a position, as we believe the company continues to operate from a position of strength, driven by recent shareholder-friendly capital allocation decisions, strong operating performance, and a favorable industry supply-demand backdrop."

A tanker filled with petroleum products, sailing through a calm sea.

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 20 hedge fund portfolios held Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) at the end of the second quarter which was 16 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) 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.