Weyerhaeuser Joins the 5 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks

The number of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short increased only marginally in the final two weeks of the month to about 191.55 million. That the highest level of short interest since the middle of April, and it represents 3.7% of the float. It would take about 10 days to cover all short positions. During the period it was announced that AT&T would be the sole carrier for the new Amazon.com smartphone. AT&T shares rose nearly 1% in the two-week period to June 30, and it closed at $35.70 Thursday, up only about 2% from the beginning of the year. The 52-week range is $31.74 to $36.86.

Brazilian iron ore producer Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) saw a 4.4% rise in short interest to more than 133.17 million shares. That was on top of a more than 7% gain in the previous period. It would take about eight days to cover all short positions. Shares closed at $13.83, in a 52-week range of $12.29 to $17.14. They rose more than 3% in the two-week short-interest period.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) had a 2.5% rise in short interest to more than 111.69 million shares by the end of the month. That totaled 18.1% of the company’s float and followed a 5% increase in the number of shares short in the previous period. The days to cover fell to about four. We noted the huge potential upside in AMD early in the period, but the stock’s price pulled back about 2% in the period. It now is up about 7% year-to-date. The stock closed at $4.29 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $3.04 to $4.65.

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After a rise of about 15% in short interest in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) in the previous period, it retreated in late June by 3.4% to around 103.23 million shares. That was 1.0% of the bank’s float, and it would take about two days to cover all short positions. The stock’s price was about the same at the end of the two-week period as where it began, and now it is down more than 3% year-to-date. Shares closed at $15.44 and have traded in a range of $13.31 to $18.03 in the past year.

Weyerhaeuser Co.’s (NYSE: WY) short interest grew from around 60.96 million shares to more than 95.37 million in the final two weeks of the month. That was 16.6% of the float. The number of shares short has been rising since the end of March. The days to cover grew to around eight. The company is preparing to sell its homebuilding business to TRI Point Homes. Short sellers watched the share price rise more than 7% in the two-week period. Shares closed at $32.57 Thursday, in a 52-week range of $26.64 to $33.75, and up less than 6% year-to-date.

Cemex SAB de C.V. (NYSE: CX) saw the number of its shares short increased by around 4.15 million from the previous period to almost 93,68 million by the end of June. That was a gain of about 4.6% and represents about 7.7% of the total float. At the current average daily volume, it would take about 10 days to cover all short positions. Shares rose only about 1% in the two-week period but are up more than 24% year-to-date. Shares closed at $13.33 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $9.43 to $13.82.

Rounding out the top ten are J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) (which also saw a surge of short interest in the period), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F). The latter two saw their short interest fall at more than 5% in the period.

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