3. United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL)
Investors with Long Positions (as of June 30): 72
Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of June 30): $3.21 Billion
Moving on to hedge funds’ third-favorite airline stock, United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL). The aggregate value of hedge funds’ holdings in the company slid by $710 million, while hedge fund ownership dropped by six during the April-June period. The nearly 7% jump United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL)’s shares saw on Friday on the back of the company being added to the S&P 500 have helped shareholders recoup some of the 21.2% losses they suffered during the second quarter. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management was one of the hedge funds that increased its stake in United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) during the second quarter, owning 3.37 million shares of the company at the end of June.
2. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL)
Investors with Long Positions (as of June 30): 85
Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of June 30): $2.54 Billion
Due to being down by almost 27% year-to-date, American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL)’s stock is currently the biggest loser in 2015 among all the airline stocks covered in this list. The number of funds that counted American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) as one of their holdings slid by six and the aggregate value of investors’ holdings in the company declined by 26.5% during the second quarter. Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL)’s stock to a ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ on September 1 and also raised their price target on it to $50 from $38.98, which represents a potential 21% upside to the stock’s current price. While their was an overall decline in hedge funds’ ownership of the stock, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson‘s Adage Capital Management initiated a stake in American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) during the April-June period of over 1.2 million shares.
1. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)
Investors with Long Positions (as of June 30): 114
Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of June 30): $7 Billion
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the most popular airline stock among hedge funds as of June 30. Even though it lost 8.4% during the second quarter, the number of funds that had stakes in the stock declined by only two and aggregate value of investors’ holdings in the company saw a drop of only 1.60%. On August 31, the airline announced that it will soon be adding code-sharing flights with Japan Airlines. On the same day, the company filed an application before a Federal judge to order United Airlines to answer questions regarding its deal in which it subleased two of its Dallas Love Field gates to Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV). One of the most prominent hedge funds on the Street, Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group, upped its stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 228% to over 8.2 million shares during the second quarter.
Disclosure: None
