Linde, Sherwin-Williams among most shorted S&P 500 materials stocks by January end
Bets against materials stocks have come down slightly from mid-January to end of January, while bets against the containers and packaging sub-sector shot up in the same period.
Average short interest across S&P 500 Materials Select Sector stocks was 1.68% of shares float in end-January, from 1.73% at Jan. 12. The S&P 500 Materials Index Sector (NYSEARCA:XLB) is up slightly over 1%, compared to the broader S&P 500, which climbed nearly 6% YTD.
Stocks with the largest and least short positions
Industrial gas firm Linde (LIN) was the most shorted company till Jan-end, with short interest at 11.82% of float.
Sherwin-Williams (SHW) followed by Air Products and Chemicals (APD) were the second and third most shorted stocks in the sector, with 5.33% and 5.23% short interests respectively.
Linde (LIN) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) along with Ecolab (ECL) are the three largest contributors to the index.
The least shorted stock in the sector was FMC (FMC) with 0.68% short interest till end of Jan.
Industry Analysis
Among industries, Containers & Packaging continues to be the most shorted within the materials sector with 1.93% short interest as of end-January, but lower compared to 2.26% in mid-January.
Chemicals was the second most shorted industry within the sector with 1.69% short interest as of end-January, up from 1.63% in mid-January.
Average short interest as a percentage of floating shares