Most of the stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the greatest number of shares short saw their short interest decline, at least a little, between the January 29 and February 12 settlement dates. The name at the top of the list though — Chesapeake Energy — bucked that trend with a modest gain in the period.

Note that the 10 most shorted NYSE stocks all had more than 120,000 shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) saw its short interest grow more than 4% to around 234.71 million shares by the middle of February. That ended three consecutive periods of decline, and it was 35.9% of the company’s float. The days to cover dropped to about six as the daily average volume surged. Standard & Poor’s lowered the company’s corporate credit rating during the period. Short sellers watched the stock plunge more than 51% between the settlement dates, in part on bankruptcy rumors. The S&P 500 slipped a little more than 3% during the two weeks. Chesapeake Energy shares closed most recently at $2.69, up from a recent multiyear low of $1.50. The 52-week high of $18.55 was seen about a year ago.

In the initial weeks of the month, Sprint Corp.’s (NYSE: S) short interest slipped about 1%, on top of a decline of about 5% in the previous period. The most recent reading of more than 210.66 million was 33.8% of the float. The days to cover rose from less than six to about 10 as the daily average volume declined. Some see Sprint finally turning around, but the share price ended the two-week period more than 13% lower, despite being down about 19% at one point. The stock closed most recently at $3.05, in a 52-week trading range of $2.18 to $5.45.

The short interest in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) pulled back almost 8% between the most recent settlement dates to more than 205.23 million shares. That followed a 25% gain in the previous period, and it totaled 18.0% of the miner’s float. It would take about four days to cover all short positions, as the average daily volume retreated from a 52-week high. Carl Icahn recently increased his stake in the company, and the share price ended the short interest period more than 19% higher. The stock surged 34% more afterward and closed Wednesday at $7.19 a share. The 52-week low is $3.52, well short of the 52-week high of $23.97.

A negligible retreat left Alcoa Inc.’s (NYSE: AA) number of shares short at more than 187.05 million by the end of the two-week period. That ended five straight periods of rising short interest, and it was 14.6% of Alcoa’s total float. The days to cover inched up to about six. The company saw some insider buying earlier this month. Its share price surged about 18% early in the short interest period, but by the middle of the month was up less than 8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated more than 2% in the period. Shares have changed hands between $6.14 and $15.70 in the past year. They closed at $8.76 on Wednesday.

The number of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) shares short dropped by almost 16.65 million in the two weeks to around 181.47 million. At the most recent average daily volume, it would take about eight days to cover all short positions. Shares finally headed north again after finding a new multiyear low of $2.13 late last month. The Brazilian miner’s shares rose more than 15% but ended the most recent short interest period less than 8% higher. The stock closed on Wednesday at $2.93. The 52-week high of $9.14 was seen last May.

Rounding out the top 10 were Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). The big movers here were Petrobras, with a more than 20% plunge in short interest, and Ford, which saw the number of its shares short grow by more than 16%. The other three saw more modest bumps in their short interest earlier this month.

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