Short Selling of Utility Stocks Decreases in October; Alliant Energy is the Most Shorted
Short Interest Trends: Short interest in the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLU) decreased in October, with Alliant Energy (LNT) being the most shorted stock and NextEra Energy (NEE) the least shorted. Average short interest across S&P 500 utilities stocks fell from 2.95% to 2.82%.
Performance Comparison: The S&P 500 Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLU) gained nearly 18.5% this year, outperforming the broader S&P 500 market, which saw a gain of 16.4%.
Industry Analysis: Water Utilities had the highest short interest at 3.47%, followed by Gas Utilities at 3.40%. Overall, bets against the Electric Utilities sector decreased to 2.67% at the end of October.
Stock Specifics: Alliant Energy had 15.51 million shares sold short (6.05% of shares float), while NextEra Energy had 26.83 million shares sold short (1.29% of shares float), indicating a significant disparity in short interest among utility stocks.
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Dividend Declaration: State Street® Utilities Select Sector SPDR® ETF (XLU) has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3172 per share, payable on December 24 to shareholders of record on December 22, with an ex-dividend date also on December 22.
Yield Information: The 30-Day SEC Yield for XLU is reported at 2.73% as of December 18.
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