March went out like a lamb, as far as the markets were concerned, with the major indexes retreating from all-time highs. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, overall short sellers seemed to be watching and waiting. Moves in those shorted stocks were mixed between the March 15 and March 31 settlement dates and mostly modest.
However, Ford bucked that trend. Short sellers piled on, lifting it into the number six spot on the list, during the two-week period, when shares were slumping and reported sales were weak.
Note that the top six stocks on the list all had more than 100 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.
Weatherford International
Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) is still the most shorted NYSE stock, despite a more than 1% drop in the number of shares short in the final two weeks of last month. That followed a 16.7% surge in short interest in the previous period. The more than 136.25 million shares reported most recently represented 14.1% of this oil and gas driller’s total float. At the most current daily average, it would take about eight days to cover all the short positions.
Wells Fargo sees big upside in Weatherford shares. The stock ended the two-week period almost 6% higher, while the S&P 500 was down fractionally in that time. The stock closed most recently at $6.52 a share, which is more than 30% higher year to date. Shares have changed hands between $3.73 and $8.49 in the past 52 weeks.
Sprint
Moving back up to the number two spot on the list last month was Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). This despite short interest declining in seven of the previous ten periods. Most recently the number of shares short grew by more than 5 million shares to more than 129.87 million shares, which totaled 20.3% of the float. The days to cover remained around 10 during those two weeks.
Sprint and its peers appear to be in a race to the bottom. Sprint’s share price ended the short interest period about where it began, despite being down more than 4% at one point. The stock has retreated again since then and closed most recently at $8.32. It hit a 52-week high of $9.65 earlier this year, well up from the 52-week low of $3.30 almost a year ago.
Chesapeake Energy
Though the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short had risen in each period so far this year, it pulled back most recently, down around 5% as of the end of March. Around 127.83 million shares short were reported, or 14.3% of the company’s float. As of the most recent settlement date, the days to cover reading was around three.
Chesapeake saw some notable insider buying last month. Between the latest settlement dates, short sellers watched the share price drop more than 8% but then recover and end about 9% higher. It rose more afterward and closed most recently at $6.18. That was well up from the multiyear low of $3.56 from last summer, but handily less than the 52-week high of $8.20 seen in mid-December.
AT&T
The more than 126.47 million AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short at the end of last month was 6.9% greater than on the prior settlement date. It also was 2.1% of the float, and it was the highest level of short interest in at least a year. As of the latest settlement date, it would take about eight days to cover all short positions.
Some have suggested good earnings could prompt heavy institutional buying in AT&T. Shares were down more than 2% by the end of the most recent short interest period, and they have continued to decline since then. The stock closed on Tuesday at $40.31, which was more than 5% lower than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week trading range is $36.10 to $43.89.
Alibaba
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) saw its short interest essentially flat in the short interest period, at more than 111.64 million shares. That was still one of the smallest numbers of shares short so far this year, and it totaled 4.5% of the float. As the daily average volume increased late last month, the days to cover slipped from about 13 to around 11.
Like rival Amazon, Alibaba has moved into brick-and-mortar retail. Its share price by the end of the two-week short interest period was about 4% higher, and the stock has popped another 2% or so in the past week. It closed most recently at $110.44 a share, after hitting a 52-week high of $111.88 this week. The 52-week low is $73.30.
24/7 Wall St.Ford
The short interest in Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) surged more than 32% in the latter two weeks of the month, bringing the reported number of shares short to almost 109.98 million. That represented 2.8% of the total float, and it was the first time this year that short interest was more than 100 million shares. It would take more than two days to cover all short positions as of the latest settlement date.
Ford shares took a hit in the period as it warned that sales figures would be weak. The stock ended the period down around 8%, and it has pulled back some more since. Ford shares have changed hands between $11.07 and $14.22 apiece in the past year. They were trading at $11.28 on Tuesday’s close, which is about 7% lower since the beginning of the year.
And the Rest
Rounding out the top 10 were Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP), Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) and CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL). The struggling retailer and the rural local exchange carrier saw modest bumps in their short interest, while the others saw marginal declines.
Lingering just outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks were General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY). The latter had a double-digit percentage increase in the number of shares short, but that was not enough to lift it into the top 10.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
