Omega Advisors’ Leon Cooperman has taken an activist position in Atlas Energy Group. In a 13D filed late Tuesday, the New York-based investor said he boosted his stake in the a natural gas and oil extraction company to 6.2 million shares, or roughly 20 percent of the total. In the filing he states he acquired the shares “for investment purposes” but intends to review the investment based on a number of factors, including the company’s business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, general economic and industry conditions, the securities markets in general and those for the stock. The 13D goes on to say that Cooperman “may take such actions in the future as he deems appropriate in light of the circumstances existing from time to time.” Cooperman is not known as an activist, although he has taken some aggressive investment stakes in the past. Shares of Atlas Energy fell nearly 3 percent Tuesday but surged more than 6 percent in after-hours trading. Omega Overseas was up about 0.8 percent in July, bringing its gain for the year to 5.23 percent.
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Donald Steinbrugge, managing partner of Richmond, Virginia-based Agecroft Partners, predicts that total hedge fund industry assets will rise by $280 billion, or more than 8 percent by the summer of 2016. The hedge fund marketing executive is figuring on a 6 percent average rate of return over the next 12 months—which works out to about $180 billion--and net inflows of about $100 billion. He issued the forecast in light of what he deems pervasive criticism and negative analysis of the hedge fund industry in general to underscore the otherwise strong support among institutional investors. The argument is that many of these types of investors don’t necessarily compare their performance to stock benchmarks such as the Standard & Poor’s 500.
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Tiger Global Management raised its stake in 58.com to nearly 13.2 million shares or 6.3 percent of the total outstanding. Tiger Global owned 2.45 million shares of the Chinese online marketplace at the end of the first quarter.
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Davidson Kempner Capital Management disclosed it owns 1.2 million shares of Global Partner Acquisition Corp., or 6.9 percent of the total outstanding. The blank check company, which was created to complete mergers, went public in late July.
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Raging Capital Management disclosed it owns more than 2.47 million shares of Alpha and Omega Semiconductor, or 10.7 percent of the total outstanding of the Bermuda-based chip maker. In a separate filing, the Rocky Hill, New Jersey hedge fund firm founded in 2006 by William Martin disclosed it owns 18.5 percent of GulfMark Offshore, which provides offshore transportation services to the energy industry.
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Deutsche Bank raised its price target on hedge fund favorite Google from $780 to $840, noting the search engine has been its “top pick in 2015.” The bank cites a number of factors, including its discounted valuation compared with its peers, negative sentiment, the bank’s belief that “innovation is alive and well” and that Google management “cares about its stock price.”
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Baupost Group and its joint venture partner Helical Bar agreed to sell One Bartholomew Close, a London office development site, for 102.4 million British pounds, or nearly $160 million.
