Investing
The 6 Most Shorted NYSE Stocks: Short Sellers Pile on Alcoa, Freeport-McMoRan Again
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Among the six most heavily shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, short sellers continued to pile on Alcoa and Freeport-McMoRan between the January 15 and January 29 settlement dates. Short interest in the other four pulled back by less than 10%.
Note that the 10 most shorted NYSE stocks all had more than 180,000 shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) saw its short interest drop less than 3% to around 224.80 million shares by the end of January. That was the third consecutive period of decline, and it was 34.4% of the company’s float. The days to cover remained about eight as the daily average volume pulled back. Chesapeake ended its preferred dividend late in January. Short sellers watched the stock retreat about 17% at one point between the settlement dates but end the period down less than 5%. The S&P 500 climbed more than 3% in the two weeks. The stock closed most recently at $1.95, up from a recent multiyear low of $1.50. The 52-week high of $21.29 was seen almost a year ago.
The short interest in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) surged another 25% between the most recent settlement dates to more than 222.71 million shares. That followed a 15% gain in the previous period, and it was 19.6% of the miner’s float. It would take about three days to cover all short positions, as the average daily volume rose to a 52-week high. The company offered turnaround plans with its latest quarterly results, and the share price ended the short interest period almost 6% higher. The stock has surged more than 18% more since and closed most recently at $5.00. The 52-week low is $3.52, well short of the 52-week high of $23.97.
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