The 5 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks as Q2 Begins

Rising short interest in Petrobras kept its shares firmly in ranks of the most shorted stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange between the March 31 and April 15 settlement dates. On the other hand, short sellers continued to give up on Pfizer, allowing it to drop out of the top five.

All of the top five had more than 110,000 shares short at the end of the most recent two-week settlement period.

The number of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short decreased marginally in the first two weeks of the month, but the stock remains at the top of the list. The more than 318.68 million shares short represent 6.1% of the float. It would take about 12 days to cover all short positions. Note that this was the first decline in short interest since last September. Credit Suisse talked up the stock during the period. Shares were essentially flat in the two weeks to April 15. The stock closed Friday at $34.01, which was 1.3% higher than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week trading range is $32.07 to $37.48.

There was a 5.1% gain in the short interest in Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) during the period. That took back most of the decline in the previous period, and it brought the number of shares short to more than 224.50 million, which was the second highest level in the past year. It was also about 7% of the float. At the current average daily volume, it would take around nine days to cover all short positions. Vale’s shares rose 6.9% during the two-week short-interest period. They have surged about 29% since, though. Shares closed most recently at $7.92, in a 52-week range of $5.45 to $14.93.

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After a jump of more than 22% in the previous period, short interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) rose another 8.6% to almost 147.23 million shares, more than double the number of shares short back in February. That mid-April figure was 22.4% of the company’s float, and the days to cover rose to about six. The stock has seen sizable insider buying recently, and the share price increased 14.6% between the settlement dates. Since that time, shares have retreated less than 5% and closed at $14.54 on Friday. They have traded between $13.38 and $29.92 in the past year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short gain 13.8% by the middle of month. That 146.05 million was the highest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover crept up to about four, the highest it has been this year. We pondered the fate of the Petrobras dividend earlier this month. Shares increased about 50% during the settlement period, and more than 21% since. The stock ended last week at $9.99, in a 52-week range of $4.90 to $20.94.

Transocean Ltd.’s (NYSE: RIG) short interest retreated 6.4% in the period, with a midmonth reading of more than 110.65 shares. That was the lowest level of short interest since January, and it represented 31.6% of the total float. The days to cover dropped to less than 11. Higher oil prices helped boost the share price during the period, and it rose more than 28% in the two weeks. However, it has pulled back more than 4% since, closing at $16.40 on Friday. Shares have traded between $13.28 and $46.12 in the past year.

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Rounding out the top 10 were Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP). Of these, GE saw a surge in short interest, pushing it into the top 10, while Verizon, like Pfizer, continues to see short sellers getting out of the way.