Spirit Airlines Incorporated (SAVE): Lone Pine Capital Discloses New 6% Stake

Lone Pine Capital, managed by Stephen Mandel, has revealed a new position in Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE). According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the fund holds 4.37 million shares of the common stock of Spirit Airlines. The position equates to 6.0% of the stock, and is passive by nature.

Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE) is an airline company that operates more than 270 daily flights to 55 destinations in the United States. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion. Its stock traded up by 2.44% on Tuesday to $65.52. Analysts have the consensus average target price of $70.60 for the stock. The consensus average recommendation is ‘Buy.’ Last month, the company reported a 16.9% increase in traffic on a capacity increase of 15.4%, compared to June 2013.

For the first quarter of 2014, Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE) posted adjusted net income of $37.8 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, compared to $32.8 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in the same quarter of 2013. GAAP net income for the first quarter was $37.7 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, compared to $30.6 million, $0.42 per diluted share, in the first quarter 2013, according to a press release.

Other largest shareholders of Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE) include Par Capital Management, managed by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro, which holds 1.25 million shares, and D. E. Shaw, which owns 1.23 million shares of the company. Another investor Roberto Mignone’s Bridger Management disclosed ownership of 1.0 million shares of Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE).

Steve Mandel has $17 billion assets under management. He returned about 23% during the past 11 years, beating the S&P 500 index by more than 20 percentage points per year. As of the end of the first quarter of 2014, the value of the fund’s equity portfolio was $23.0 billion. The largest holding is represented by Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ:CTSH), in which the fund disclosed owning 28.72 million shares. It is followed by Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU), in which the fund holds 7.81 million shares.

Disclosure: none