Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Russell Midcap Value Index ended Q4 somewhat lower, down -1.75%, after posting robust gains in Q3. The index provided a 13.07% return for the year. Following the US election, mid-cap value stocks experienced a significant rally with the larger US equity market, hitting all-time highs before declining in December. In the quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTQX returned -3.70%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of -3.67%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned -3.67%, compared to a -1.75% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund emphasized stocks such as The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR). The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) is a US-based insurance company. The one-month return of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) was 5.88%, and its shares gained 37.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 12, 2025, The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) stock closed at $277.55 per share with a market capitalization of $162.7 billion.

Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

" On the positive side, our financials holdings delivered strong absolute and relative returns in 2024, and each of our biggest contributors—First Citizens, M&T Bank and Progressive—was in the financials sector. We exited The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), one of the largest personal auto insurers in the US, this quarter after a long holding period that began in 2007. As a long-time holding, Progressive is an example of how we put our process into motion. We were able to purchase it at an attractive price, but most of our holding period return came from the value created by the business itself. We recognized the strength of its business model demonstrated by consistent free cash flow generation and above average returns on equity and had a high regard for management, which had a proven track record of pricing discipline through the cycle and prudent capital allocation. Due to its success, Progressive’s market capitalization now exceeds the upper limit of our mid-cap investment universe."

A team of accountants in a boardroom, discussing strategic moves of an insurance company.

The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) is in 30th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 100 hedge fund portfolios held The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 95 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) 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 Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) and shared the list of best low risk 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.