The 7 Most Heavily Shorted NYSE Stocks

Investing

Published: October 27, 2014 10:45 am

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 6:53 am

Here is a look at the seven stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the largest number of shares held short as of October 15. Only one of the seven experienced a decline in short interest, and that may have had more to do with politics than anything else.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) saw its short interest rise by 5.8% to 225.72 million shares, about 4.4% of the stock’s float. Days to cover was nine. The stock’s share price fell about 3.9% in the two-week period to October 15, and it closed at $33.87 on Friday night. The 52-week range is $31.74 to $37.48. The share price has dropped about 3.5% since January 1.

Short interest in Vale SA (NYSE: VALE) fell 1.9% in the two-week period. Some 165.92 million shares were short, with a days-to-cover number of six. Shares closed Friday night at $11.16 in a 52-week range of $10.45 to $17.14. Monday saw the new low for the stock, following the elections in Brazil. Vale posted a share price increase of about 6.3% for the short interest period. Year to date, the stock has dropped about 31%.

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For Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), short interest rose 9.6% to 145.92 million shares. About 23.5% of AMD’s float was short and the days to cover was four. The stock’s price dropped more than 26% during the short interest period and is down about 32% year to date. The stock closed at $2.68 on Friday, and its 52-week range is $2.54 to $4.80.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) had 111.88 million shares short, up 1.1% from the number short on September 30 and 7% of the company’s float. The days to cover was five. Shares dropped about 6.7% in the two-week period, but they are up nearly 15% year to date. Shares closed at $60.29 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $45.50 to $60.73. That high was set Monday morning.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) experienced a rise of 10.7% in short interest during the period. Some 16.2% of the company’s shares were short and the days to cover was seven. The stock’s price was down about 8.4% in the two-week period and up about 7.6% year to date. Shares closed at $39.03 Friday, in a 52-week range of $30.81 to $42.49.

Short interest in Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) rose 13.4% in the first two weeks of the month to a total of 104.46 million shares, or 13.4% of Sprint’s float. Days to cover was five for this heavily traded stock. Short sellers watched share prices fall about 3.8% in the two-week period. The stock closed at $6.08 Friday night, in a 52-week range of $5.36 to $11.47. Shares are down about 44% year to date.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) rounded out the top seven most shorted stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, with the number of shares short rising by 13.5% to 104.27 million. Days to cover was one and just 1% of the shares were shorted. The stock price fell about 7.3% in the two-week period to October 15, and shares closed at $16.72 on Friday in a 52-week range of $13.80 to $18.03. Year to date, the shares are up about 6.4%.

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