If someone is betting heavily against a UK stock I either own, or plan to own, then I’d want to know about it. Luckily, all firms with a net short position greater than or equal to 0.1% of the issued share capital against a listed UK listed company have to report that position to the the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA publishes a daily short position update based on the notifications that it receives reporting those company’s with an aggregate net short positions in excess of 0.5% against their issued share capital along with the identity of the position holders.
The short position report from Friday, 2 August, 2024 is the subject of today’s post. And yet again, Petrofac tops the list. It’s been that way since the last of these reports back in April, and it had been topping the list for months even then.
Here are the top 25 most shorted UK stocks:
Let’s take a look at who are betting against Petrofac in a bit more detail. Six firms are betting against the Petrofac stock price. The average is 1.98 across all company’s mentioned in the FCA report.
| Name of Short Seller | Size of Short Sellers Net Short Position against Petrofac |
| Astaris Capital Management LLP | 2.51% |
| Helikon Investments Limited | 2.35% |
| Millenium Capital Partners LLP | 2.03% |
| TFG Asset Management UK LLP | 1.21% |
| Whitebox Advisors LLC | 0.71% |
| Tages Capital LLP | 0.59% |
| Total | 9.40% |
The largest position size held by a single short seller against a stock is by Helikon Investments against ITM Power at 2.91%. The next two largest are both against Petrofac, the 2.51% held by Astaris Capital Management and the 2.35% held by Helkion. That stake held by Millennium Capital partners is the sixth largest single position.
DISCLAIMER: James J. McCombie owns shares in Burberry, Kingfisher and Watches of Switzerland. The Storied Investor has no beneficial ownership position in any of the stocks or securities mentioned. No comment in this article should be construed as a recommendation of, or opinion regarding the future performance of, any stock or security or collection of them mentioned herein. Opinions expressed are the author’s and do not represent the views of The Storied Investor.
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