Weir tops FTSE 100’s most shorted stocks
SCOTTISH engineering group Weir is by far the most shorted stock in the FTSE 100, with 18.3 per cent of its stock currently out on loan ahead of today’s trading update, according to research by Data Explorers.
Weir produces specialist drilling equipment, and large hedge funds are understood to have bet heavily that the firm will report poor results following the decline in the US gas price.
“It’s been like catching a falling knife since the final results at the end of February,” said Peel Hunt analyst Thomas Rands.
“The short position has been built over the last six months and has increased in size since the final results in February. People are expecting the first half of the year to be tough and so far they’ve been proved right.”
Insurer Admiral is the second most shorted stock on the index, with the number of its shares sold down increasing by more than half within the last month.