ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Growth Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. First quarter of 2025 witnessed sharp equities sell off due the shift out of mega caps. There was a relative outperformance of mid cap growth stocks over large and small cap growth during the first quarter correction which indicates the broadening of market, that presents attractive opportunities for high active share managers. In the quarter, the ClearBridge Growth Strategy marginally underperformed its Russell Midcap Growth Index benchmark. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, ClearBridge Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS). Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) provides corporate identity uniforms and related business services. The one-month return of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) was 5.13%, and its shares gained 21.32% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 10, 2025, Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) stock closed at $202.73 per share with a market capitalization of $81.86 billion.

ClearBridge Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"Two newer positions also held up well: uniform and workplace products provider, Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS), and off-price apparel retailer, TJX. Cintas delivered strong quarterly results with organic growth and margin improvement ahead of expectations. The company cited several new business wins driven by cost savings, a value proposition that is particularly salient in today’s more uncertain macro environment."

A corporate office with staff members wearing company branded uniforms.

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 56 hedge fund portfolios held Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, Cintas Corporation’s (NASDAQ:CTAS) revenue increased 8.4% to $2.61 billion. While we acknowledge the potential of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) 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.

We covered Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) in another article, where we shared the list of stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.