The Only 3 Energy Stocks That Matter to Billionaire Carl Icahn

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI)

How Many CVR Shares Icahn Owns: 71.2 million

How Much Money Icahn Has Invested in the Stock: $2.65 billion

Icahn Is More Than Just Your Average CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) Investor: The size of Icahn’s CVR Energy position hasn’t changed in over five years, with the stock ranking as the billionaire’s top stock pick throughout much of that time (excluding the fund’s position in Icahn Enterprises L.P. (NASDAQ:IEP). CVR Energy and CVR Refining LP (NYSE:CVRR) are in fact subsidiaries of Icahn Enterprises which continue to trade as separate public companies, which explains his immutable position in the stock.

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) Loses Massive Biofuels Short: CVR began shorting RINs (Renewable Identification Numbers) in 2016, ahead of Trump’s stunning White House upset. Icahn hoped that a Republican win might lead to changes being made to the Renewable Fuel Standard that would cripple the price of RINs and pass the obligation of purchasing them on to other companies (namely, companies not named CVR). However, Icahn’s hopes were dashed in the middle of last year, pushing the price of RINs up and forcing CVR to start covering its obligations (due this quarter) at much higher prices than it envisioned.

Feds Looking Into Icahn’s White House Role: It was revealed last November that the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York had begun to look into Icahn’s dealings involving RINs and his attempts to change regulations through his White House position that would’ve directly affected their price and benefited a company that he majority-owns. Icahn’s lawyer has claimed that Icahn’s role as special adviser to the President was not an official role and that he’s therefore exempt from a federal statute that could otherwise bring criminal charges his way.

SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD)

How Many SandRidge Shares Icahn Owns: 4.82 million

How Much Money Icahn Has Invested in the Stock: $101.53 million

Icahn Scuttles Bonanza Creek Deal: Icahn wasted little time making his mark on SandRidge Energy, of which he bought 4.82 million shares during the fourth-quarter. Icahn was instrumental in the company bailing on its planned purchase of Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (NYSE:BCEI) late last year, calling the proposed deal “value-destroying” and claiming that it offered no obvious synergies or economies of scale. Fir Tree, founded by Jeffrey Tannenbaum, which owns the second-largest position in the stock among the funds in our database as of the end of 2017, also disliked the deal, stating that it would decimate SandRidge’s cash reserves.

Why Icahn Took On SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD): By his own reckoning, SandRidge is a relatively small company for Icahn to tangle with, as he told CNBC in November. However, the investor was compelled to act after witnessing what he called “a new low in corporate governance”, after SandRidge adopted a “poison pill” to try and quell shareholders and prevent activists from opposing its plans. Icahn has since pushed for changes to the company’s board and bylaws, proposals which have been rebuffed by the company.

Hedge Fund Ownership of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD): Let’s take a look at how other hedge funds have been trading this stock recently. At the end of the third-quarter (before Icahn opened his position), 22 hedge funds in our system owned $202 million worth of SandRidge shares, amounting to 28% of the stock’s float. In the fourth-quarter, several funds opened new positions in the stock, including the funds run by billionaires Icahn, Ken Griffin, and Jim Simons. On the other hand, three of the four largest hedge fund positions in SandRidge Energy as of the end of September were sold off during the fourth-quarter, including positions held by Tony Chedraoui’s Tyrus Capital (2.47 million shares), Christopher Pucillo’s Solus Alternative Asset Management (1.12 million shares), and James Dinan‘s York Capital (1.02 million shares).

Disclosure: None