Atlas Energy LP (ATLS), Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (ASPS): Leon Cooperman’s Latest Bullish Moves

As it was disclosed in several new filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Leon Cooperman, the manager of Omega Advisors, has recently raised his stakes in Atlas Energy LP (NYSE:ATLS) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (NASDAQ:ASPS). The investor acquired 144,000 shares of Atlas Energy, taking the position to some 7.17 million shares, which represent around 14% of the company’s outstanding common stock. In Altisource Portfolio Solutions, Mr. Cooperman, in the last couple of weeks acquired some 223,400 shares and sold 33,100 shares, taking the stake to some 2.41 million shares.

Mr. Cooperman manages an equity portfolio worth around $7.0 billion. He managed to achieve impressive returns of around 15% per year over the last two decades by spending a lot of time researching stocks that are overlooked by other investors. Prior to founding Omega Advisors back in 1991, Mr. Cooperman had been working at Goldman Sachs, where he had worked his way up to general partner and CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. At the end of last year, one of Cooperman’s filings revealed that the investor raised his stake in Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) to 7.82 million shares from 6.99 million shares held previously. A couple of days later, the company announced that it was going to restructure its debt and its stock went up by 30% by the end of the year.

The manager of Omega Advisors is also fond of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG), which has been one of its top picks in the last 3 years. As the fund disclosed holding 5.25 million shares in its latest 13F filing, the stock of AIG returned around 7% over the last year, while over the last three years it gained around 100%. Overall, the Financial sector represents almost a half of Omega’s equity portfolio, while the sector returned on average 10% over the last 52 weeks.

Both Atlas Energy LP (NYSE:ATLS) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (NASDAQ:ASPS), two of the companies that Mr. Cooperman reported in his latest filings, have been included in his equity portfolio for the last several years. Mr. Cooperman has been a shareholder of Atlas Energy since the fourth quarter of 2006, and throughout the following years, the investor has been altering its position in the company. Meanwhile, the stock of the $1.5 billion company went up by 23% since the beginning of 2007, but over the last five years, the stock gained more than a threefold. The company is engaged in the oil & gas exploration and its assets consist of interests in Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP) and Atlas Pipeline Partners. Mr. Cooperman is also a shareholder of Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP) with 5.38 million shares, as of the end of September; and Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL), of which he owns 3.35 million shares.