Hedge Fund Manager Leon Cooperman Delivers 'Alpha' Stock Picks (COF, ESRX, GCI, HAL, KMI, MET, QCOM, WPI, WU)

Hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman, who is chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, remains bullish on select equity investments.  In a presentation at CNBC’s ‘Delivering Alpha’ conference this Wednesday, Mr. Cooperman’s take is that there is still some great value in equities out there and he gave some specific stock picks. 

CNBC showed a track record of how Cooperman’s picks did from the first 2011 Delivering Alpha conference.  The gains were big, particularly in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).  Cooperman was called one of the strongest performers. Cooperman said that speaking about his top ideas in any order was a bit like asking him which of his children and which of his grandchildren he loved the most.  That being said, here were some key picks and we only listed these alphabetically:

• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), but shares are down 1.7% after news that it is paying $210 million to settle a deceptive trade practices suit.
• Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ: ESRX) is up almost 1% at $58.46 and this is after the Medco merger.
• Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), which is the troubled media and newspaper company, but its shares are up 1% at $14.80 so far today versus a 52-week range of $8.28 to $16.26.
• Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is up 2% at $30.02 and Cooperman believes the valuation is compelling here after the huge drop… its 52-week range is $26.28 to $57.77,
• Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was another oil and energy pick after a pullback and shares are up 0.5% at $35.22 against a 52-week range of $23.51 to $40.25.
• MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) was listed as a pick as the insurance giant gets its house back in order. Shares are up 0.8% at $31.09 against a 52-week range of $25.61 to $42.86.
• QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is now up 3.1% as chips are recovering and shares are back above $56.00 versus a 52-week high of $68.87.
• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is up 0.9% at $77.91 for the generic and branded drug maker.
• The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) was another pick, likely as international money transfer houses have been weakened in recent times.  Shares are up 0.6% at $17.00 against a 52-week range of $14.55 to $20.54.
• Cooperman’s non-U.S. pick is AIA Group in Hong Kong.

This almost feels like a commercial saying “When E.F. Hutton Talks, People Listen” from the past.
 
JON C. OGG