Leon Cooperman Raises Stake In SandRidge Energy To 8.5 Percent

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Leon Cooperman, the chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors LLC, increased his stake in  SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) based on his latest 13G filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Based on his regulatory filing, the billionaire investor now owns 41,532,663 shares or an 8.5% stake in SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD). During the third quarter of 2013, Cooperman held 34,256,163 shares in the company.

SandRidge could double stock price

In July, last year, Cooperman explained that he liked SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) because he believed that the stock price of the company, which was $5 per share at the time, will double. On the other hand, he also acknowledged the fact that the company might end up bankrupt if things go wrong primarily due to its credit situation, which was getting very low (virtually zero) to develop its acreage and cut spending. Cooperman emphasized that oil and natural gas company’s stock is trading based on its net asset value, which is double.

Sandridge sells Gulf of Mexico business

Early in January, SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) announced its decision to sell its Gulf of Mexico business, which was prompted by its ongoing drilling success in its onshore operations and a more focused Mid-Continent strategy.

The company agreed to sell the business to Fieldwood Energy LLC for $750 million in cash and the assumption of $370 million of abandonment liabilities. SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) said it will reinvest the proceeds from the transaction in its Mid-Continent drilling projects.

James Bennett, president and CEO of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) said, “This transaction provides us with pro-forma liquidity of over $2.0 billion, while maintaining a leverage ratio under 3.0x. Our growing cash flow plus the availability of additional reserves based borrowings are envisioned to fund our growth strategy.  SandRidge is now a high growth, Mid-Continent focused company.”

The board of directors of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) also approved a semi-annual preferred stock dividend of $4.25 per share on its shares of 8.5% convertible perpetual preferred stock last month. The dividend will be paid on February 17.

The shares of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) are trading around $6.17 per share at the time of this writing, 12:31 P.M. in New York. Over the past 52-week range, stock price of the oil and natural gas company climbed from $4.52 to $6.96 per share.

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