Among the most shorted stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange, General Electric saw its short interest drop sharply between the November 13 and November 30 settlement dates, but not enough for it to slip from the top of the list. Short sellers added to their positions in the rest of the top six, especially SunEdison.
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 surging in the previous two periods, the short interest in General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) dropped between the most recent settlement dates, more than 36% to more than 251.43 million shares. Fewer than 100 million shares were short for most of the past year, but it was up to 2.5% of the float by November 30. It would take about two days to cover all short positions. GE was expected to hike its dividend soon–maybe. The share price rose almost 3% but then surrendered that gain during the two-week period. Shares closed at $30.47 Wednesday, down about half a buck from the recent 52-week high. The $19.37 52-week low happened during the market swoon back in August.
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Short interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) also surged in the previous period, and it gained another 3.5% in late November to about 236.22 million. That was 36.0% of the company’s float, and the days to cover remained about 14 as the daily average volume hit a three-month high. In the period, Chesapeake saw some insider buying. Short sellers watched the stock fall almost 16% between the settlement dates, while the S&P 500 was up about 2%. Shares closed at $4.47 on Wednesday, after hitting a multiyear low of $4.03 the day before. The 52-week high of $21.49 was seen last February.
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Sprint Corp.’s (NYSE: S) short interest grew about 8% in the final weeks of the month, on top of more than an 9% gain in the previous period. The most recent reading of more than 202.67 million was 32.5% of the float and the greatest number of shares short in at least a year. The days to cover rose from more than eight to about 10. Sprint struggled to raise cash in November, and the share price ended the two-week period about 11% lower. Shares have popped more than 5% in the past week. They ended Wednesday’s session at $3.74, in a 52-week trading range of $3.10 to $5.45.
The third period of rising short interest brought the number of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) shares short to around 201.25 million. That was the first time since September that the reading was above 200 million. At the most recent average daily volume, it would take around nine days to cover all short positions. The stock hit our 52-week low club a few times in recent weeks, and shares of Vale did end the short-interest period more than 15% lower. The stock closed most recently at $3.29, in a 52-week trading range of $2.99 to $9.14.
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short jump by almost 11 million in the two weeks to more than 175.58 million. That was the highest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover rose to about seven as the average daily volume dropped. While the Petrobras scandal widened in November, its shares soared more than 20% in the final two weeks of the month, yet ended the period up only about 2%. They closed most recently at $5.00, down more than 31% year to date. The 52-week high of $10.55 occurred last May, while the $3.72 low was seen at the end of September.
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A 29.5% surge brought SunEdison Inc.’s (NYSE: SUNE) number of shares short to more than 119.30 million to end the month. That was the highest level of short interest in at least a year, and some 38% of the total float. The days to cover was about one. The share price retreated about 29% in the two weeks, though it was down more than 43% at one point. But the stock popped more than 14% on Wednesday on news of a restructured deal. Shares closed at $3.96, and they have traded between $2.55 and $33.45 in the past 52 weeks.
Rounding out the top 10 were Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). Both Alcoa and Freeport-McMoRan had double-digit increases in short interest. The number of shares short in AT&T dwindled again, as this long-time resident of the most shorted NYSE stocks list appears to be on its way to dropping out.
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