Lee Cooperman Trims SandRidge Energy & New Residential Stakes; Adds to THL Credit

Omega Advisors' Lee Cooperman has filed a myriad of amended 13G's with the SEC as of late.  We covered some of his recent portfolio activity here.  In other recent moves, Cooperman was out trimming 2 stakes, and adding to another.


Trims SandRidge Energy

First, Omega Advisors has reduced its position in SandRidge Energy (SD) by over 13.3 million shares since the end of the third quarter.  Per the 13G filed with the SEC, Cooperman now owns just over 32.1 million shares.  This was made due to activity on December 31st.

Per Google Finance, SandRidge Energy is "an oil and natural gas company. The Company focuses on exploration and production activities in the Mid-Continent region of the United States. The Company also operates businesses and infrastructure systems, including gas gathering and processing facilities, marketing operations, a saltwater disposal system, an electrical transmission system and a drilling rig and related oil field services business."


Cuts New Residential Stake

Next, the hedge fund manager also cut his exposure to New Residentail Investment Corp (NRZ).  After selling over 3.8 million shares, he's left owning over 7.97 million shares.  The filing was also made due to activity on December 31st.

Per Google Finance, New Residential Investment Corp is "a real estate investment trust. The Company focuses on investing in, and actively managing, investments related to residential real estate. The Company is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a global investment management. The Company primarily target investments in excess mortgage servicing rights, residential mortgage backed securities, residential mortgage loans and other related investments."


Adds To THL Credit Position

Last, Cooperman also disclosed he has added to his THL Credit (TCRD) position.  After buying over 1.1 million more shares, he now owns over 2.11 million shares of the company.  The 13G was filed due to activity on December 31st.

Per Google Finance, THL Credit is "a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. It operates as a business development company. The Company’s investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation, primarily through investments in privately negotiated debt and equity securities of middle market companies. The Company is a direct lender to middle market companies and invest in subordinated, or mezzanine, debt and second lien secured debt, which may include an associated equity component such as warrants, preferred stock or other similar securities."

Don't forget you can see the rest of Cooperman's recent portfolio activity here.

Lee Cooperman Says Market Fairly Valued, Talks Stocks He's Been Buying (Interview)

Lee Cooperman of hedge fund firm Omega Advisors made an appearance on CNBC today to talk about what he's been buying and what his portfolio looks like.

Cooperman thinks the market is fairly valued right now and that the "Fed will have to remain friendly." He thinks the rest of the year will be determined by which valuation camp wins out.

He thinks a radical change in Fed policy or a recession would cause a drop in the market, but he's not terribly worried about either of those scenarios.

At the same time, he points out how many investors have de-risked drastically and are underinvested.  He says, "what the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end."


Stocks Cooperman Likes

Cooperman mentioned Thomas H Lee Credit (TCRD), a mezzanine lender that yields over 9% and he thinks the dividend goes higher.

We recently posted up excerpts from Omega's Q1 letter if you missed it where he talks about some of his other stock picks.

He likes to buy MLP's when they're trading below net asset value and especially if he can get a decent yield.  He thinks Linn Energy (LINE) has assets worth "in the area of 40."

Cooperman has also sued Tetragon Financial and he believes management should be barred from the industry due to 6 years of bad governance in his opinion and possibly unlawful acts.  He still thinks the stock is undervalued (he owns 14 million shares of it and he started buying in 2009 back during the financial crisis).  In sum, he feels it's solely a management problem.

The Omega Advisors man also talked about Sprint (S), saying he bought it at $2 and then again at $7 and likes that there were 2 interested parties in the company (Softbank and Dish Network), but it looks like.  He said he'll tender 80% of his position, but if it trades at the right price, he'll get back into that chunk of his position.

Cooperman has owned Dish (DISH) for six years and he said it's a mature business and he thinks it'd be worth more with Sprint than without it.  He likes management there.

The hedge fund manager noted that he's "very bottom-up" and some things Omega has been buying recently include Express Scripts (ESRX), Halliburton (HAL), Transocean (RIG), Qualcomm (QCOM), Motorola Solutions (MSI). Sandridge (SD), and Chimera (CIM).


Embedded below is the video of Cooperman's 18-minute interview:



For more on this manager, check out Lee Cooperman's thesis on Covidien (COV) and Sirius XM Radio (SIRI).