Baupost Group increases stakes in Cheniere Energy, Pioneer

By SABRINA WILLMER
Bloomberg

Seth Klarman’s $28.5 billion Baupost Group increased its stakes in Cheniere Energy and Pioneer Natural Resources last quarter as energy stocks got battered.

The Boston-based firm added about 898,000 shares in Texas shale explorer Pioneer, bringing the value of its holding to about $564 million, according to a regulatory filing. It also increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 1.56 million shares to a value of $1.06 billion as of June 30.

Cheniere remains Baupost’s largest US stock holding.

Baupost is trying to take advantage of a decline in oil prices as other bargains have been difficult to find after the Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus inflated asset prices. The firm lost about 1.4% last quarter as energy stocks fell.

Pioneer, a fracking company that hedge fund manager David Einhorn in May called overvalued, dropped 15% in the quarter, while Cheniere Energy declined 11%.

Baupost reduced its position in Antero Resources by 1.32 million shares, leaving it with a stake valued at $276 million, according to the filing. It bought new stakes in Sanchez Energy, drug development company Biotie Therapies and Frontier Communications.

Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities must file a Form 13F within 45 days of each quarter’s end to list their US-traded stocks, options and convertible bonds. The filings don’t show non-US traded securities or how much cash the firms hold.

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