Longleaf Partners, managed by Southeastern Asset Management, released its “Small-Cap Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned -1.58% in the fourth quarter, compared to the Russell 3000’s 2.63% return. For the year, the fund returned 9.69% compared to 23.81% return for the benchmark. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund emphasized stocks such as Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC). Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) is a diversified holding company. The one-month return of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) was 0.47%, and its shares gained 31.61% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 4, 2025, Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) stock closed at $949.76 per share with a market capitalization of $4.122 billion.

Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund stated the following regarding Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

"Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) – Diversified education, healthcare and media (to name a few of their assets) company Graham Holdings was a top contributor for the year. The company reported a strong quarter and year across multiple segments. Substantial FCF once again went to meaningful share repurchase. GHC’s shares trade at a compelling single-digit multiple of FCF when adjusting for the company’s material non earning assets, offering significant value growth through repurchases at these discounted prices. In the quarter, the company made a significant move to de-risk its pension obligations, purchasing an annuity to transfer liabilities and getting the company closer to unlocking this hidden asset. 2024 also saw the company’s Healthcare division continue to grow its value strongly in the double digits and likely pass the TV segment to become the second most valuable part of the company after the Kaplan education business. Management’s disciplined approach to capital allocation and long-term thinking support our confidence in future shareholder returns."

A student in a classroom eagerly raising their hand, highlighting the quality of the company's test preparation services.

Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 27 hedge fund portfolios held Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) 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 Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) and shared the list of best education stocks to buy in 2025. 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.