September started off with back-to-back major hurricanes slamming into the United States, but the markets continued to trade at all-time highs throughout the month. A look at the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange shows some interesting moves between the September 15 and September 29 settlement dates.
Overall the short interest swings were mostly higher and mostly modest. However, short sellers continued to pile on flailing retailer Rite Aid after the most recent earnings disappointment. On the other hand, those sellers got out of the way on Weatherford, which slipped well down the list.
Note that the top six stocks on the list all had more than 125 million shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period. In fact, all the top 10 had short interest of more than 100 million shares.
Chesapeake Energy
Though the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short has risen in most periods so far this year, in the latest period it saw a short interest decline of more than 3% to more than 193.12 million. That still represented 21.6% of the company’s float. At the month’s end posted daily average trading volume, it would take about seven days to cover all the short positions.
At least one analyst saw significant upside in Chesapeake last month. Its share price ended the two weeks more than 7% higher, though it was up more than 10% at one point in the interval. The S&P 500 saw only a fractional gain between the settlement dates. The stock closed Tuesday’s trading at $3.91 a share, up from a recent 52-week low of $3.55. Now it is more than 44% lower year to date, and shares have changed hands as high as $8.20 in the past 52 weeks.
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AT&T
The more than 191.83 million AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short on the most recent settlement date was more than 2% higher than two weeks earlier, and it followed a 5% gain in that previous period. The latest reading represented 3.1% of the float, and it was the highest level of short interest in at least a year. As of the end of last month, it would take around seven days to cover all short positions.
Two of AT&T’s rivals were reportedly holding merger talks again. In the first two weeks of September, short sellers watched the share price rise more than 5%, though it has pulled back a bit since then. The stock closed most recently at $38.50 a share, which was less than 5% lower than it was six months ago. The 52-week trading range for AT&T shares is $35.10 to $43.03.
Rite Aid
A more than 13% pop brought the most recently reported number of Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) shares short to more than 139.71 million on the most recent settlement date. That lifted it to the number four spot on the list. The latest reading was the easily the greatest level of short interest in the past year, as well as being 13.4% of the retailer’s total float. The average daily trading volume more than doubled from the prior period, and the days to cover fell to three.
The stock suffered in the wake of a disappointing quarterly report last month. Its shares ended the final two weeks of September more than 25% lower. A recovery afterward was short-lived, and the stock hit a new 52-week low of $1.83 a share on Tuesday. The shares are down more than 59% from six months ago. Rite Aid hit a 52-week high of $8.77 per share early in the year.
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J.C. Penney
The number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short grew from over 136.29 million in the previous period to more than 137.89 million. The new reading was the second greatest so far this year, and it is the 13th in a row above 100 million, as well as a whopping 47.7% of the struggling retailer’s float. The daily average trading volume decreased again during the period, and the days to cover rose to about 13.
This year, J.C. Penney was among the retailers closing the most stores. Its share price retreated more than 9% in the two-week short interest period, and even more since then. The stock closed most recently at $3.54 a share, which is down more than 57% year to date. The 52-week low, seen earlier this month, was $3.45, while the 52-week high of $10.74 was reached last December.
Alibaba
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) saw the number of its shares short pull back almost 4% from the previous period, which had the highest level of short interest in at least a year. And note that the approximately 134.31 million shares reported at the end of last month totaled 5.3% of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s float. The daily average volume increased again during the most recent period, and the days to cover ticked down to seven.
Alibaba’s board chair and vice chair announced last month plans to sell some 21 million shares. The share price pulled back more than 2% in the latter half of September. However, the stock more than recovered afterward and closed Tuesday at $183.12 a share. That is nearly 64% higher than six months ago. The 52-week low of $86.01 was seen last December, and the 52-week high of $184.46 this week.
General Electric
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has risen into the top six on the list even though the number of shares short increased a little more than 2% in the final two weeks of September. But that followed a 23% surge in short interest in the previous period. The more than 125.74 million shares reported most recently represented 1.5% of the total float. The days to cover reading ended the period at around three.
GE continued to thin itself down with more asset sales during the short interest period. Its shares rose nearly 5% but then gave up most of that gain between the settlement dates. Still it did better in those two weeks than the fractional gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. GE’s share price was last seen at $23.36, near the recent 52-week low of $23.25. The 52-week high, from last December, was $32.38 a share.
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And the Rest
Rounding out the top 10 were Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP). The big gainer here was Bank of America, with a double-digit percentage rise in the number of its shares short. But note that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) fell out of the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks with a double-digit decline during those two weeks.
And lingering beyond the spotlight of the top 10 along with Ford was Brazilian miner Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), another short seller favorite.
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