Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman said he is significantly invested in energy stocks, citing the rise in oil prices given the Middle East conflict. The chair and CEO of the Omega Family Office said roughly 15% of his family office assets are in energy, at a time when oil prices have been spiking and weighing on the broader equity market. West Texas Intermediate crude oil contracts for June were last above $80 a barrel, up about 13% in 2024. “I think, given what’s going on in the Middle East, that the oil will probably stay in this $80 to $90 range. If it does, these guys are making lots of money and paying out big dividends,” Cooperman told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “I think the stocks are cheap.” “I would say that I have found over 50 or 60 years of doing this, if I buy something at three times cash flow yielding 5% or 6%, I get lucky,” Cooperman also said. Cooperman has favored energy stocks in the past. In 2021, the longtime investor revealed the sector was his largest position , when extreme weather and lower production drove a spike in natural gas prices. The S & P 500 energy sector advanced more than 47% that year. This year, the sector is up by more than 14%. To be sure, energy prices have recently come off their highs after Iran and Israel signaled they are not interested in a wider conflict. On Tuesday, the market brushed off legislation from the House of Representatives that would broaden sanctions of Iran’s oil exports, a bill the Senate could vote on as soon as this week. — CNBC’s Yun Li and Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
