Soumya Eswaran
3 min read
In This Article:
Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Real Estate Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In Q1 2025, stocks were sold due to economic growth slowdown, inflation, and policymaking issues, including Baron Real Estate Fund®, without considering value. The fund declined 6.69% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 3.11% decline for the MSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index (the MSCI Real Estate Index) and a 0.76% gain for the MSCI US REIT Index (the REIT Index). In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Baron Real Estate Fund highlighted stocks such as The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC). The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The one-month return of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) was 6.40%, and its shares lost 2.80% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 14, 2024, The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) stock closed at $15.62 per share with a market capitalization of $4.14 billion.
Baron Real Estate Fund stated the following regarding The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
"The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) is a REIT that owns a portfolio of exceptionally high-quality malls in the U.S. Under a new management team, the company is undergoing a business transformation to improve portfolio quality, growth potential, and balance sheet health, which we believe will ultimately translate into an improved valuation multiple for the company.
Aerial view of a shopping mall bustling with customers, symbolizing the impact of the company's real estate portfolio.
The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 20 hedge fund portfolios held The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 17 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
