Short Sellers Undecided on Gold-Mining Stocks

Commodities & Metals

Published: November 25, 2020 10:38 am

In the two-week short interest reporting period that ended November 13, the price of gold added about 0.5%. For the year to date, gold futures have gained approximately 18%, and they posted an all-time high at $2,089.20 in July. Early Wednesday, the yellow metal traded at around $1,815 per ounce.

Short interest decreased on three of five gold-mining stocks, and data for the three exchange-traded funds we normally track was not available Wednesday morning.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) saw short interest remain unchanged at 8.0 million shares, which represent about 1.0% of the company’s float. Days to cover remained at two. In the two-week short interest period, the share price added about 4.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $33.00 to $72.22, and shares traded at $57.70 on Wednesday.

Barrick Gold Corp.’s (NYSE: GOLD) short interest dropped by 10% in the two-week period. About 14.7 million shares were short, less than 1% of the miner’s total float. Days to cover remained at one. Shares dropped by about 3.1% in the period and traded at $23.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 52-week range is $12.65 to $31.22.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) short sellers added about 23% to their positions over those two weeks. Some 30.8 million shares were short, or about 2.1% of the stock’s float. Shares traded at $23.00 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $4.82 to $23.25. The stock increased by about 16% in the first two weeks of November, and days to cover remained at two.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) saw short interest decrease by 26% in the first half of November. Less than 1% (1.9 million) of the company’s shares were short. Days to cover fell from three to two. Shares traded Wednesday at $64.15, in a 52-week range of $31.00 to $89.23. The stock price declined by about 6.3% during the short interest reporting period.

Kinross Gold Corp.’s (NYSE: KGC) short interest jumped by 27% to about 14.3 million shares, or 1.1% of the stock’s float, during the two-week reporting period. The share price added less than 1%, and days to cover remained at one. The stock traded at $7.10 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $2.72 to $10.32.

The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDX) short interest data was not available for the latest two-week period. The share price increased by about 1.4% during the two weeks through November 13 and traded Wednesday at $34.00. The 52-week range is $16.18 to $45.78.

The VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDXJ) short interest was not available. Shares rose by about 2.6% during the two-week period. The 52-week range is $19.52 to $65.95, and shares traded Wednesday at $49.20.

SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA: GLD) short interest was not available. The share price rose by less than 1% during the period. The 52-week range is $136.12 to $194.45, and shares traded Wednesday at $170.05.