We recently compiled a list of the Billionaire Lee Cooperman’s Top 15 Long-Term Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) stands against Lee Cooperman’s other long-term stock picks.
Leon Cooperman is a highly respected figure in the investment world, known for his acumen, philanthropy, and candid commentary on markets and economics. As the founder of Omega Advisors, Cooperman built a reputation as one of Wall Street’s most successful hedge fund managers. Leon Cooperman was born in New York in 1943 to working-class immigrant parents. His father was a plumber, and his mother was a homemaker. Cooperman earned his undergraduate degree from Hunter College in 1964 and later pursued an MBA at Columbia Business School. Cooperman began his professional journey at Goldman Sachs, where he worked for 25 years.
He joined the firm as an analyst and rose through the ranks to lead the Asset Management division. His tenure at Goldman Sachs was marked by significant achievements, including his role in expanding the firm’s institutional investment management services. In 1991, Cooperman left Goldman Sachs to establish Omega Advisors, a hedge fund specializing in value-oriented investing. He built the firm on principles of thorough research, disciplined risk management, and a long-term investment horizon. Under his leadership, Omega Advisors delivered strong returns, earning a reputation as one of the most successful hedge funds in the industry.
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At its height, Omega Advisors managed approximately $10 billion in assets, attracting institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. In 2018, when Cooperman transitioned the firm into a family office, Omega Advisors had around $3.6 billion in AUM. Over its 27 years as a hedge fund, Omega Advisors achieved annualized returns of approximately 12%, outperforming many of its peers and major indices during key periods. During bullish market cycles, Cooperman’s ability to identify undervalued stocks enabled the fund to outperform benchmarks like the S&P 500, which has an average historical return of around 10% annually. For instance, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cooperman’s investments in financials, industrials, and energy sectors delivered double-digit gains.
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For this article, we selected stocks by combing through the 13F portfolio of Omega Advisors at the end of the third quarter of 2024. Only the companies that have been in the 13F portfolio of the fund consistently for the past three years were selected. These stocks are also popular among other hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A technician filling bottles with nature-based ingredients for the company’s personal care products.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Omega Advisors’ Stake: $94.8 million
Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) is a global additives and specialty ingredients company with a conscious mindset for sustainability. The following factors make Ashland a highly attractive investment. To begin with, the report for the fourth quarter of 2024 showed net income, including discontinued operations, of $6 million or $0.12 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $139 million, a 5% increase from the prior-year quarter, and cash flows provided by operating activities of $128 million, with an ongoing free cash flow of $112 million. This positive net income and free cash flows highlight the company’s ability to fund operations and reinvest or return value to shareholders. Secondly, the company has announced that it would sell its Avoca business to Mane. The transaction is expected to close in the calendar first quarter of 2025.
Overall ASH ranks 7th on our list of Lee Cooperman’s top long-term stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of ASH as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a stock that is more promising than ASH but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
