As the week draws to an end, here is a roundup of how famous hedge funds moved in their favorite short positions in U.K. The Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR) is among the most crowded of hedge fund shorts in the U.K. More than 14 percent of Weir’s outstanding shares are held in short bets by hedge funds. To get full coverage of what hedge funds are shorting in U.K., visit our page of Hedge Fund Short Positions.
The most recent activity in the stock was Morton Holdings covering its entire position of 1.06 percent. Other than this, there has been little or no activity in The Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR), most hedge funds have kept the position steady since disclosing it in November. The stock has moved +19 percent in the last three months.
Names like Blue Ridge Capital, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Capital and Lansdowne Partners all have a short position in The Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR).
As MAN GROUP PLC (LON:EMG) (PINK:MNGPF) gets closer to announcing its FY2012 results due Feb 28, Lansdowne Partners increases its short positions in one of the largest hedge funds of the world to 1.83 percent of Man Group’s shares outstanding. Lansdowne happen to be the only fund with a short bet in the Man Group.
Steve Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital has shown some movement in its short in Wm. Morrison Supermarkets plc (LON:MRW), the position is now 0.83 percent of the supermarket company. Meditor Capital and Lansdowne Partners also have a short bet in the same stock.
Other shorts of Steve Mandel are also in the retail and consumer sector. Home Retail Group Plc (LON:HOME), WH Smith Plc (LON:SMWH) and Dixons Retail PLC (LON:DXNS) (PINK:DSITY) are other short positions of Lone Pine Capital.
D.E. Shaw Group increased their position in TUI Travel PLC (LON:TT) in this week. TUI Travel is a bearish bet for several hedge funds both in the U.K. and Germany. In London the total short interest is equal to 4.3 percent of TUI Travel PLC (LON:TT), however the aggregate bet in Germany is much larger and amounts to 7.37 percent of TUI AG (FRA:TUI1) (ETR:TUI1).
Another stock showing a lot of short interest activity is Sportingbet PLC (LON:SBT). BTG Pactual Europe increased their position from 1.57 to 1.87 percent in this week. Keep in mind that BTG Pactual’s funds took the top position in the best performing hedge funds of last year.
Jim Chanos, the famed shortseller, has been consistently increasing his short position in Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) and African Minerals Limited (LON:AMI). Kynikos Associates, Jim Chanos’ firm, is now shorting 4.9 percent of Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO). The total short interest in Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) disclosed to the FSA is now almost 17 percent of the company’s outstanding shares.
Moore Capital initiated new short position in Lancashire Holdings Limited (LON:LRE) on Feb 5; the firm is now short 1 percent of the company.
