Citigroup Inc. (C): The Short Data You Need To See

In the financial blogosphere, there are lots of facts and figures for Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) investors to track, but it is absolutely crucial to monitor a company’s short sellers. A couple metrics typically used are: (a) the fraction of a company’s shares that the shorts are currently shorting, and (b) the change in shorting activity.

Augmented bearish shorting typically means what you’d think: investors have turned less fond of a company. Short selling that’s too high, however, may have a positive effect on share price, as short-ers can be forced to buy their positions.

Here at Insider Monkey, it is not a secret that we track the smart money’s sentiment, but it is also crucial to group this data with overall short data. In some high-profile cases, mega- investors may indicate that they’re bearish on a certain stock, but it is not an SEC requirement. Nevertheless, some individual investors might wish to avoid heavily shorted companies with above-average hedge fund support, while others might prefer short-squeeze opportunities. For traders looking for a time-tested piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

Let us take a peek at the latest data swirling around Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C).

Looking at the most recent FINRA short interest data, which is reported twice a month, we can discover that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) sports a short interest of 1.30% of float, a slight drop from one month earlier. With a float of 3.04B shares, this reveals a short ratio of 1.50.

It is also beneficial to take note of hedge fund sentiment from their quarterly 13F filings. When analyzing the funds we track, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management had the biggest position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), worth close to $397.6 million, accounting for 2.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On Pzena Investment Management’s heels is Appaloosa Management LP, managed by David Tepper, which held a $376.9 million position; 8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Also, bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has seen 2 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine activity in other stocks similar to Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C). These stocks are Toronto-Dominion Bank (USA) (NYSE:TD), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) (NYSE:MTU), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). This group of stocks are in the money center banks industry and their market caps are closest to C’s market cap.

These three metrics–short sale information, hedge fund data and insider sentiment–are something every investor should pay attention to. Though it’s difficult to discover a usable strategy from short interest data, the latter two give lots of market beating opportunities if you know where to look.