Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy” fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In 2024, mega-cap technology stocks, known as the "magnificent seven," outperformed expectations. The bullish sentiment was driven by U.S. election results, strong earnings momentum, and a robust labor market. Ariel Small Cap Value Tax-Exempt Composite decreased -0.69% gross of fees (-0.83% net of fees) in the quarter, against this backdrop, compared to -1.06% and +0.33% returns of the Russell 2000 Value Index and the Russell 2000 Index, respectively. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy emphasized stocks such as The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO). The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) offers secure transportation, cash management, and other security-related services. The one-month return of The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) was 2.73%, and its shares gained 13.54% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 28, 2025, The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) stock closed at $94.04 per share with a market capitalization of $4.057 billion.

Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

"Logistics and cash management services provider, The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) also underperformed in the period. Despite the delivery of strong organic revenue growth and margin improvement across both the ATM managed services and digital retail solutions segments, currency headwinds and softness in its global services business drove an earnings miss. Although management lowered full year guidance, BCO continues to win margin accretive business, such as its recently announced long-term partnership with Sainsbury’s, one of the largest supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the company is making substantial investments in its technology platforms and returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases."

A security officer in front of a bank vault, representing the companies secure transportation services.

The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 20 hedge fund portfolios held The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 23 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) 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 The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) and shared SouthernSun Small Cap Strategy's views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 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.