A report by Citi analysts Deborah L Weinswig and Tiffany Kanaga says short interest in the Retail sector was up 4.7% in the latter half of September and +8.6% for the month. On the other hand, NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) short interest decreased (-2.1%) during the latter half of September. Here are some interesting insights from the report.
Which retailers bore the brunt?
The five retailers that saw the maximum increase in short interest in the second half of September were as follows:
| Short Interest | Short Interest | Short Interest | ||
| Ticker | Company | September 13, 2013 | September 30, 2013 | % chg. |
| WAG | Walgreen | 13,358,325 | 15,447,730 | 15.6% |
| JCP | J.C. Penney | 71,720,285 | 83,522,478 | 16.5% |
| TGT | Target | 17,873,309 | 20,835,151 | 16.6% |
| DDS | Dillard’s | 2,812,231 | 3,372,157 | 19.9% |
| DLTR | Dollar Tree | 2,875,930 | 14,313,134 | 397.7% |
Which retailers stood their ground?
The five retailers that saw a decrease in short interest were:
| Short Interest | Short Interest | Short Interest | ||
| Ticker | Company | September 13, 2013 | September 30, 2013 | % chg. |
| SWY | Safeway | 47,131,075 | 32,638,422 | (30.7%) |
| SHLD | Sears Holdings | 15,931,810 | 13,710,928 | (13.9%) |
| KR | Kroger | 8,936,874 | 7,864,197 | (12.0%) |
| M | Macy’s | 9,513,098 | 8,396,316 | (11.7%) |
| DG | Dollar General | 4,271,895 | 3,979,007 | (6.9%) |
Which retailers had the maximum short interest?
The following five retailers showed the maximum short positions as a percentage of float:
| Short Interest | Short Intt/Float | ||
| Ticker | Company | September 30, 2013 | September 30, 2013 |
| SWY | Safeway | 32,638,422 | 13.7% |
| SVU | Supervalu | 33,593,625 | 16.8% |
| SHLD | Sears Holdings | 13,710,928 | 17.8% |
| SKS | Saks | 18,049,887 | 19.4% |
| JCP | J.C. Penney | 83,522,478 | 38.4% |
Short position in J.C. Penney
According to the report, the short position in J.C. Penney Company, Inc.(NYSE:JCP), the largest as a percentage of float, could be covered in just 1.3 days given its average daily volume of 62.54M shares.
In contrast, it would take bears in Fred’s, Inc.(NASDAQ:FRED) all of 19.4 days to cover their shorts.
