Tech and lifestyle stocks also dominate the lists.
June was an excellent month for stocks, with the Nasdaq rising 6.6% last month and the S&P 500 500 surging 4.9% higher. For hedge fund managers, it led to strong inflows and strategic repositioning, as reflected in the June Shortside Crowdedness Report from Hazeltree, a technology and data provider for the alternative asset management industry.
The shortside crowdedness report tracks the most shorted stocks by hedge fund managers every month, which can provide valuable insight for investors on where some stocks may be headed.
In the past two months, hedge fund managers were shorting the S&P 500 via the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, but in June the S&P 500 fell out of top 10. Instead, short sellers targeted mostly technology and lifestyle stocks, along with an energy stalwart and a financial services giant.
Chevron is the most shorted stock in June
Chevron (NYSE:CVX), the leading gas and oil producer, was the most shorted stock in June with a crowdedness score of 99 out of 100. The higher the score, the more hedge funds are shorting it. Chevron supplants event and concert promoter Live Nation (NYSE:LYV). Live nation fell to second with a score of 94.
Tech company Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) was third at with a score of 92 followed by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) with a score of 89. Tech companies IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) were next with scores of 84. Supermicro had the highest institutional supply utilization (ISU) rate at 45.81%. This indicates how hot a security is in terms of the supply-demand dynamic.
Hims and Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS), a provider of medical treatments and consultation, cracked the list for the first time this year with a score of 84. Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT), the hotel chain, was next at 82, followed by industrial company Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) with a score of 79.
“While consumer lifestyle brands have continued to dominate the top 10 most crowded shorts over the past two months, in June we also saw a renewed focus on technology names across all market caps globally,” Tim Smith, managing director of data insights at Hazeltree, said.
Breaking into the top 10 for the first time this year is financial services giant Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), with a crowdedness score of 76.
“One notable shift was the disappearance of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF from the Americas large-cap top 10, which may signal a pivot away from broad U.S. equity exposure in favor of international allocations,” Smith said. “At the same time, The Goldman Sachs Group entered the top 10 for the first time this year — potentially a response to the firm’s strong stress test results, its planned dividend hike, and continued cost-control efforts, including layoffs.”
Hertz, Under Armour, and JetBlue
EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS), a provider of satellite communications, was the most shorted midcap stock with a score of 99. Hertz (NYSE:HTZ), the car rental company, was next at 96, followed by food company Post (NYSE:POST), Bitcoin miner MARA (NASDAQ:MARA), Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI), MP Materials (NYSE:MP), and Unity Software (NYSE:U), all with scores of 92.
MP materials had the highest ISU rate at 76.75%.
In the small cap universe, Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:RPC), a shaving and grooming company, was the most shorted with a score of 95. Athletic apparel company Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) and airline JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) were next with scores of 95.
Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had the highest ISU rate among small caps at 55.84%, along with a crowdedness score of 86.
