Billionaire stock picker Cooperman gives his recommendations in Las Vegas

[May 12, 2016]  By Lawrence Delevingne and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman, who has steadfastly forecast that U.S. stocks will move higher, on Wednesday said his hedge fund firm Omega Advisors is betting on Tetragon Financial Group and First Data Corp to gain in value.

Cooperman called investing in Tetragon, a closed-end investment company, a "no brainer" at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference, or "SALT," in Las Vegas. The stock is roughly flat this year.

He also said that he is betting on electronic commerce company First Data Corp, whose stock has tumbled 31 percent since January.

Neither stock is a new holding. According to his latest regulatory filing detailing stock holdings as of December 31, 2015, Cooperman owned 15.4 million shares of First Data. The size of the position of Tetragon is unclear.

Omega, based in New York, managed $5.2 billion as of April 30.

(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Diane Craft)

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