Leon Cooperman is one of the most seasoned hands on Wall Street and an investor who has seen nearly all of the ups and downs on the world's biggest stock markets. Born in 1943, Cooperman belongs to an era before today's fancy computers and high frequency algorithmic trading, Cooperman has lived across market downturns, upturns, and once in a generation shifts such as the rise of technology stocks and artificial intelligence.
Safe to say, this provides him with a perspective that's almost unmatched on Wall Street and places the investor right alongside some of the best known hedge fund bosses in the world such as Stanley Druckenmiller and Ken Fisher. Mr. Cooperman has spent decades playing with money on Wall Street, and he entered the finance industry in 1967 after graduating from the illustrious Columbia Business School. After spending decades at the investment bank, Cooperman set up his hedge fund Omega Advisors and ran the fund for decades before closing shop and retiring in 2016.
Since then, Cooperman has been investing through his family office called Omega Advisors. According to Insider Monkey's research, Mr. Cooperman's investment portfolio was worth $2.1 billion by the end of last year's fourth quarter. This marked a substantial growth of $500 million or 31% annually and demonstrated that even as the rest of the investing world was wary of piling money into the stock market amidst a rapid interest rate hiking cycle by the Federal Reserve, Cooperman was silently growing his investments.
In Q4 2022, Cooperman's three largest investments in terms of monetary value were Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN), Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (NASDAQ:COOP), and The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI). Out of the three, only Mr. Cooper is among the top three in the investor's latest portfolio, as he trimmed his stakes in Q1 2023 and Q2 2023. Out of them, Devon Energy is an oil and gas company that has featured in Mr. Cooperman's portfolio since the first quarter of 2021. Between March 2021 and June 2022, the shares jumped by 227% as the global oil industry felt the pressure from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Cigna Group is more of a longer-term Leon Cooperman stock pick, as it first made an appearance in the portfolio in the Q4 2018 investment portfolio. Since then, the shares have gained 86% in terms of price appreciation, making it a great stock to just buy, hold, and forget. Finally, Omega Advisors also bought Mr. Cooper in Q4 2018. Since then, the shares have gained a whopping 509% in terms of share price appreciation - making them a great way to have more than doubled your money if you were following Leon Cooperman.
Finally, before we get to Leon Cooperman's latest dividend stock picks, a brief primer on dividends is necessary. A dividend is a payout to a shareholder from a firm's post tax profits. Not all firms pay dividends, and those that do not, typically hold the money in an account called retained earnings. A firm's dividends are evaluated with its share price, and dividing the annual dividend paid by the share price leads to a dividend yield - which is the percentage of the share price paid out as dividends. Investors also value dividend stocks through what is called a Gordon Growth Model, to see if changes in dividend policy can affect a firm's valuation.
Mortgage-servicing company Mr. Cooper Group rose alongside financials in the wake of the Fed’s November meeting, which investors broadly interpreted to signal an end to rate hikes and a potential pivot to cuts sometime in 2024. Further, lower rates could help give a boost to a relatively stagnant mortgage-originating business.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at the dividend stocks in which most of Leon Cooperman's latest investment portfolio has been invested. A couple of notable picks are Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD), Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET), and Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT).
50 Percent of Billionaire Cooperman's Portfolio is Invested in These 12 Dividend Stocks
Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors
Our Methodology
To make our list of Leon Cooperman's dividend stocks, we identified those non ETF and mutual fund dividend paying stocks in his Q4 2023 portfolio that as a whole constitute more than half of the portfolio.
For these Leon Cooperman dividend paying stocks, we used hedge fund sentiment. Hedge funds’ top 10 consensus stock picks outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). That’s why we pay very close attention to this often-ignored indicator.
50 Percent of Billionaire Cooperman's Portfolio is Invested in These 12 Dividend Stocks
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ABR) is an American company headquartered in Uniondale, New York. It invests in a variety of real estate properties and also originates mortgages. The shares are rated Buy on average, and the average share price target is $15.17.
As of Q4 2023 end, 17 out of the 933 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database had bought and owned Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ABR)'s shares. Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors was the biggest investor due to its $36.1 million stake.
Along with Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET), Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD), and Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT), Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ABR) is a dividend stock that Leon Cooperman has piled into.
Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) is an oil and gas exploration firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. Its quarterly dividend of $2.74 lends it a yield of 4.21% which is the third highest on our list of Leon Cooperman's dividend stocks.
During last year's fourth quarter, 76 out of the 933 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey were the firm's investors. Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD)'s largest hedge fund investor is Mathew Hallbower's Pentwater Capital Management as it owns $1.3 billion worth of shares.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) is a gaming company that owns and operates resorts and casinos in Macau and Singapore. It's one of the strongest rated stocks on our list, as the shares are rated Strong Buy on average, and the average share price target is $64.14.
For their December quarter of 2023 shareholdings, 48 out of the 933 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had invested in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). Ken Fisher's Fisher Asset Management owned the biggest stake that was worth $554 million.
Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) is a healthcare benefits management company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm made the news in March 2024 when it was revealed that it would help retailer Kroger divest its pharmacy business by buying the division.
During last year's final quarter, 83 out of the 933 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database were the firm's shareholders. Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV)'s largest hedge fund investor is Jean-Marie Eveillard's First Eagle Investment Management through its $838 million investment.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) is a diversified chemicals company that caters to the needs of the healthcare, technology, textile, and other associated industries. The stock is up by 16% year to date, after its fourth quarter EPS of $0.45 smashed analyst estimates of $0.19 out of the park.
Insider Monkey dug through 933 hedge fund portfolios for their fourth quarter of 2023 investments and found 21 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) investors. Ricky Sandler's Eminence Capital owned the biggest stake which was worth $296 million.
The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) is another health insurance company. It's also one of the oldest firms on our list since it was set up in 1792. The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)'s shares are rated Strong Buy on average, with an average analyst share price target of $380.38.
By the end of December 2023, 76 out of the 933 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the firm. The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)'s largest hedge fund investor is Larry Robbins's Glenview Capital as it owns 2.1 million shares that are worth $641 million.
Regal Rexnord Corporation (NYSE:RRX) sells engineered industrial products such as gears, clutches, bearings, and heaters. Its investors were in for some great news in March 2024 when KeyCorp raised Regal Rexnord Corporation (NYSE:RRX)'s share price target to $210 from $180 and assigned an Overweight rating on the shares.
33 out of the 933 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's Q4 2023 database had invested in Regal Rexnord Corporation (NYSE:RRX). Ric Dillon's Diamond Hill Capital owned the biggest stake which was worth $451 million.
Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD), Regal Rexnord Corporation (NYSE:RRX), Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET), and Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) are some of Leon Cooperman's top dividend stocks.
