Commodities & Metals

Short Sellers Have Loaded Up on One Gold-Mining Stock

Paul Ausick

Published: August 26, 2020 8:04 am

Last Updated: August 26, 2020 8:29 am

In the two-week short interest reporting period that ended August 14, the price of gold slipped by about 1.5%. For the year to date, gold futures have gained about 26%, and they posted an all-time high at $2,089.20 in July. Early Wednesday the yellow metal traded at around $1,924 per ounce.

Short interest decreased on three of five gold-mining stocks and on all three gold exchange-traded funds in the two-weeks through August 14.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) saw short interest fall by 11% to 9.73 million shares. That represents about 1.2% of the company’s float, and the days to cover figure remained at two. In the two-week short interest period, the stock’s share price fell by about 7.7%. Its 52-week range is $33.00 to $72.22 and shares closed at $64.86 on Tuesday, up by about 0.5% for the day.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: GOLD) short interest rose by 13% in the two weeks through August 14. About 17.1 million shares were short. Days to cover remained at one. Shares lost about 6.6% in the period, and the stock closed at $28.71 on Tuesday, down about 0.9% for the day. Its 52-week range is $12.65 to $31.22.

Freeport-McMoran Inc. (NYSE: FCX) short sellers dropped 3% from their positions over the period. Some 34.8 million shares were short, or about 2.4% of the stock’s float. Days to cover remained at two. Shares closed at $14.46 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $4.82 to $15.19 and down about 0.7% for the day. The stock added about 6.7% in the first half of August.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) saw short interest soar by 46% in those two weeks. About 2.5% of the company’s shares were short, or 3.9 million. Days to cover rose from two to three. Shares closed Tuesday at $78.62, in a 52-week range of $31.00 to $84.66. The stock dipped by about 0.6% during the short interest reporting period.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) dropped about 7% from its share price during the two-weeks through August 14. Short interest also decreased by 7% to about 16.1 million shares, or 1.3% of the stock’s float. Days to cover remained at one. Shares closed at $8.55 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $2.72 to $10.21.

The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDX) saw short interest slip by 1% in the two-week period to 43.2 million shares. Days to cover remained at two. The shares lost about 6% during the period and closed Tuesday at $40.58. The 52-week range is $16.18 to $45.78.

The VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDXJ) saw short interest dip by 3% to 7.7 million shares. Days to cover remained at one. Shares dropped by about 4.1% during the initial two weeks of August. The 52-week range is $19.52 to $65.95, and shares closed Tuesday at $56.90, down about 0.3% for the day.

SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA: GLD) saw short interest slip by about 1% during the period to 13.2 million shares. Shares dropped 1.6% during the two weeks. The 52-week range is $136.12 to $194.45, and shares closed up 0.1% Tuesday at $181.22.