Billionaires David Einhorn and Leon Cooperman Both Like These 3 Stocks

The latest round of 13F filings is complete and our research team at Insider Monkey has poured over the hundreds of filings from some of the most influential and talented investors in the world, compiling the data so we can spot interesting trends in hedge fund activity. In this article, we’ll discuss three particular stocks, which happen to be among the favorite stocks of both David Einhorn and Leon Cooperman. Einhorn, the manager of Greenlight Capital, is known for his long/short equity investments. He is rated as one of the best hedge fund managers in the world today. Greenlight Capital has an investment portfolio valued at $7.65 billion with its top ten stock holdings accounting for 62.95% of its concentrated portfolio. Cooperman manages Omega Advisors, which mainly focuses on large and mid-cap North-American securities. The fund’s equity portfolio value totaled around $6.27 billion as of the end of March. The three stocks held by each of these world-class money managers that will be discussed in this article are Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE), AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER), and FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB).

Insider Monkey has more than 700 hedge funds in its database, including Greenlight Capital and Omega Advisors. Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks historically delivered a monthly alpha of six basis points, though these stocks underperformed the S&P 500 Total Return Index by an average of seven basis points per month between 1999 and 2012. These stocks were able to generate alpha because of their lower risk profile. On the other hand, the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by an average of 95 basis points per month. These stocks were slightly riskier, so their monthly alpha was 80 basis points (read the details here). Since the official launch of our small-cap strategy in August 2012 it has performed just as predicted, returning over 144% and beating the market by more than 84 percentage points.

Let’s discuss the first of Einhorn and Cooperman’s stock picks, Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE). Einhorn holds a stake in the $8.4-billion renewable energy development company consisting of 24.95 million shares as of the end of March. Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) is represented as the third-ranked holding in terms of value in Greenlight Capital’s portfolio. On the other hand, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors disclosed ownership of 8.80 million shares of the company, representing a decrease from 9.03 million shares held at the end of 2014. Shares of Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) have increased by 57.12% since May 2014 and by 57.20% year-to-date, surely pleasing both investors. Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) is launching an IPO for its second yieldco after its first, TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP) went public last summer. The new dividend growth-oriented yieldco is aiming to operate clean power generation assets in emerging markets including China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Peru, Uruguay, Malaysia and Thailand.

In AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER), Einhorn upped his stake during the first quarter by 50% to 5.58 million shares worth $243.6 million. Cooperman also increased his position in AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) during the first quarter to 4.03 million shares, up from 3.91 million shares held three months prior, with the stake having a value of $176.02 million. With a market cap of $10.2 billion, AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) is engaged in aircraft leasing, with approximately 1,640 aircraft owned, managed or on order in its portfolio. For the first quarter of 2015, the company posted an impressive net income of $311.5 million, versus $54.7 million for the same period in 2014. Earnings per share for the quarter was $1.47, up from $0.48 year-over-year. AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER)’s stock has gained 23.1% year-to-date. Other investors that see value in AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, which increased its position in the company during the first quarter by 16% to 4.51 million shares. Finally, we will discuss FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB), a national bank holding company with a market cap of $1.20 billion. In its latest 13F, Einhorn reported owning 550,000 shares worth $15.05 million, of the company. The stake represents a massive decrease from the 1.35 million shares the investor held at the end of 2014. Cooperman’s stake in FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB) remained unchanged over the quarter, with him owning 1.55 million shares valued at $42.51 million. For the first quarter of 2015, FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB) reported a net loss of $16.9 million, or $0.41 per share, compared to net income of $3.53 million, or $0.10 per share, in the same period last year. However, the company’s stock has been performing well over the past calendar year, gaining 38.01%, and 16.32% year-to-date. In its latest 13F, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management disclosed holding 2.58 million FCB Financial Holdings Inc (NYSE:FCB) shares, with a market value of $70.58 million.

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