5 Airline Stocks Billionaires Are Piling Into

4. Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK)

Number of Billionaire Holders: 8

Seattle, Washington-based Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is an airline holding company that operates two airlines, Alaska, and Horizon, and McGee Air Services, an aviation services provider. Alaska operates a fleet of narrowbody passenger jets on primarily longer stage-length routes. It contracts with Horizon and SkyWest for shorter-haul capacity and receives all passenger revenue from those flights.

On December 3, Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) and Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:HA) announced an agreement under which Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) will acquire all outstanding shares of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:HA) for a cash consideration of $18.00 per share which implies a transaction equity value of nearly $1.0 billion.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) expects to finance the acquisition through cash on hand and new debt with the transaction expected to close in 12-18 months, subject to regulatory clearance and approval from target company shareholders. The company expects $235 million of run-rate synergies and expects “high single digits accretion to earnings within first two years.”

According to the Insider Monkey data on 910 leading hedge funds, 28 hedge funds were long Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) and held shares valued at $171 million, as of Q3 2023. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital was the largest hedge fund shareholder with ownership of 1.16 million shares valued at $43 million.