By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager David Einhorn,whose Greenlight Capital ranked among last year's bestperformers, has taken new positions in Micron Technology Inc andBP Plc, both of which he praised in a letter to investors forpractices focused on returning cash to shareholders.
Greenlight also added a position in Anadarko Petroleum Corp while closing out investments in Thyssen Krupp and Airbus Group, Einhorn said in the letter, which wasseen by Reuters.
Einhorn's hedge fund had held a short position in Micron, a semiconductor memory chip maker, between 2001 and2005.
"This is the first time we have taken a long position in acompany in which we once had a material short position," Einhornwrote about Micron, which helped contributed to his fund'sstrong returns last year.
New York-based Greenlight bought Micron at roughly $16.49 ashare, Einhorn said in the letter, and is encouraged that thecompany intends to use its excess cash to buy back shares andnot build new factories. He also said the industry is now lesscrowded than it was when his fund shorted Micron between 2001and early 2005.
Micron on Wednesday was trading at $23.48.
Einhorn credited Micron, Apple Inc, General MotorsCo and the Japanese yen for helping Greenlight gain 19.5percent last year.
The average hedge fund gained 9 percent in 2013, accordingto research firm HFR, while the S&P 500, the benchmark equitiesindex, gained 32.4 percent.
Einhorn also praised BP Plc for its newly shareholderfriendly actions of restricting capital expenditures andincreasing dividends. He said the company could create value byselling assets at or above its net asset value and use theincome to buy back stock at a discount.
Greenlight bought BP's New York-listed shares at $47.39,Einhorn said. On Wednesday the shares were trading at $49.02.
Einhorn listed Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc and U.S.Steel Corp as investments that hurt Greenlight'sportfolio.