After being cautious in the previous period, short sellers made their moves in the most shorted stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange between the September 15 and September 30 settlement dates. In particular, the short interest in Vale dropped sharply, allowing the company to drop from the top of the list. In the meantime, the number of shares short in Sprint surged during the latter weeks of the month.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks all had more than 115,000 shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.

After rising since the end of May, short interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) added another 2% or so to around 225.20 million shares by the end of month. That was 34.3% of the company’s float, and the days to cover remained about 13. The company said in September it would reduce its headcount by 15%. Short sellers watched the stock climb more than 10% but then drop twice as much between the settlement dates. Since then shares have surged more than 26%. They closed at $8.88 on Friday. In the past year, shares have traded between $6.01 and $24.43 apiece.

There was a more than 15% plunge in the number of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) shares short during the two-week period to almost 191.07 million. That was the lowest level of short interest since last January. At the most recent average daily volume, it would take around nine days to cover all short positions. The Brazilian miner slashed its dividend in September. Vale shares ended the short-interest period more than 14% lower, despite being up more than 7% at one point. The S&P 500 was down more than 3% during that time. The stock closed most recently at $5.48, in a 52-week trading range of $4.03 to $11.95.

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Sprint Corp.’s (NYSE: S) short interest jumped more than 19% to almost 169.68 million shares in the final weeks of the month. That was 25.6% of the float and the greatest number of shares short in at least a year. It would take about five days to cover all short positions. Softbank has continued to increase its stake in Sprint, and the share price ended the two-week period down more than 21%, though it has risen about 15% since. Shares closed most recently at $4.47, in a 52-week trading range of $3.10 to $6.30.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short grow more than 6% in the two weeks to around 152.71 million, the highest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover was still about four. The previous year-to-date peak short interest of around 146,000 shares was reached in April. Petrobras prepared to shed assets during the most recent period, and shares dropped more than 7% in the latter two weeks of September. They ended last week at $5.67, down more than 22% year to date. The 52-week high of $17.64 occurred almost a year ago, while the $3.72 low was seen near the end of the short interest period.

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The more than 133.47 million AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short at month’s end was about 3% higher than on the prior settlement date. It was the highest level of short interest since the big drop in July, as well as 2.2% of the float. It would take about five days to cover all short positions. AT&T remains the best dividend payer of the major telecom and wireless carriers, and shares were fractionally lower by the end of the settlement period. The stock closed most recently at $33.14, which was less than 2% lower than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week trading range is $30.97 to $36.45.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) saw the number of its shares short little changed during the period, at more than 116.33 million. After rising since May, short interest peaked at more than 123 million shares back in August. The days to cover was about eight by the end of September, and 32.0% of the total float was short. The company was tied to the Petrobras scandal during the settlement period, and the share price tumbled almost 37% at one point but ended the two weeks down less than 8%. The stock closed at $16.98 last Friday. Shares have traded between $11.26 and $31.11 in the past 52 weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 were Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE). GE and Freeport saw the biggest swings here, with short interest at the former up almost 15% and at the latter more than 30% higher. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) managed to slip out of the top 10 in late September.

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