Omega Advisors was founded in 1991 and Leon Cooperman is the billionaire Chairman and CEO. Omega Advisors invests in value stocks with a top down approach to select the sectors with a long/short fundamental analysis, and with a bottom up approach to create portfolios. Cooperman has more than $5 billion in assets under management.
We believe that by imitating the stock picks of the smartest investors, such as Leon Cooperman and corporate insiders, investors are more likely to beat the market. Below we compiled a list of stocks both Cooperman and insiders love, and with Cooperman's holdings at least $30 Million. The Insiders Column shows the number of unique insiders purchasing their companies’ stocks since the beginning of March.
Company | Ticker | Value (x1000) | Insiders |
S L M CORP | 301788 | 1 | |
ATLAS PIPELINE PARTNE | 185869 | 1 | |
LINN ENERGY LLC | 158976 | 3 | |
K K R FINANCIAL | 151377 | 2 | |
ENERGY XXI LTD | 122238 | 7 | |
GENERAL MOTORS | 118308 | 7 | |
WELLPOINT INC | 118274 | 1 | |
E TRADE FINANCIAL | 103282 | 2 | |
X L GROUP PLC | 100205 | 1 | |
BROADRIDGE FINL | 92516 | 1 | |
C V S CAREMARK | 92133 | 1 | |
EL PASO CORP | EP | 83878 | 1 |
ATLAS ENERGY INC | 83303 | 1 | |
UNITED CONTINENTAL | 83186 | 1 | |
JPMORGAN CHASE | 77105 | 6 | |
DISH NETWORK | 73777 | 1 | |
ALTISOURCE PORTFOL | 72345 | 1 | |
TRANSOCEAN LTD | 72252 | 1 | |
EBAY INC | 65024 | 1 | |
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC | 62101 | 2 | |
JABIL CIRCUIT INC | 60330 | 1 | |
FORD MOTOR CO | 58433 | 2 | |
DOMTAR CORP | 57794 | 1 | |
UNITEDHEALTH | 57535 | 1 | |
METLIFE INC | 56631 | 1 | |
MGIC INVESTMENT | 31874 | 6 |
Cooperman’ largest position with an insider purchase is SLM Corp. Cooperman had $301.8 Million SLM and one insider, Terracciano Anthony, purchased 5,000 shares of the stock on Aug. 8, after the big decline. SLM Corp is a publicly traded U.S. corporation whose operations are originating, servicing and collecting on student loans. Managing more than $180.4 billion in debt for more than 10 million borrowers, the company primarily provided federally guaranteed student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). SLM has a market cap of $6.93B and P/E of 140.31. It has a return of 5.45% since the beginning of the year and lost 19.95% since the end of June. Cooperman didn’t change his holding of SLM in the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Cooperman initiated a brand new $65 million EBAY position. One insider, Robet Swan, bought 3,380 shares of EBAY on Aug. 10. eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer (c2c) corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. It has a market cap of $42.98B and a P/E ratio of 25.06. EBAY has a return of 15.41% since the beginning of the year and 2.57% since the end of June.
General Motors has one of the biggest numbers of insider purchases since March. Seven insiders bought the stock since then (check out the list of the insiders who purchased GM here). GM is a global automotive company. It has a market cap of 35.25B and a P/E ratio of 4.90. GM lost 39.48% since the beginning of this year and 24.08% since the end of June. Cooperman increased his position in GM by 22% during the second quarter and had $118 Million in GM stock at the end of June. Other main investors in GM include Jeffrey Tannenbaum and Frank Brosens.
MGIC Investment Corp has 6 insiders that bought the stock since March (check out the list of the insiders purchased MTG here). MTG is a provider of private mortgage insurance and various underwriting and other services and products related to home mortgage lending in the United States. It has a market cap of $492.81M and suffered a huge loss this year. MTG lost 78.11% since the beginning of the year and 60.34% since the end of the second quarter. Luckily Cooperman decreased his position in MTG by 60% during the second quarter and held a $31.8 Million position at the end of June, which minimized the negative effects to a degree.
Among all the stocks Cooperman and insiders like, EBAY, ASPS, LINE, APL and UNH achieved the highest return since the beginning of the year, while MTG, MET, EXXI, GM and F performed worst. We like Cooperman. Although some of the stocks picked by Cooperman and insiders underperformed the market, we still believe that investors can outperform the market over the long term by focusing on the stock picks of these smart and connected investors.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
