Short interest in FLSmidth dropped to 3.1% last week, according to Markit data. That is down from 6% before the US election, and marks the lowest level of short interest in FLSmidth since 2009.
As recently as September 2015, bets against FLSmidth represented about 23% of shares outstanding, making it the most shorted company in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index after Carillion, according to Markit.
Helped by higher prices for commodities, FLSmidth’s stock is up 21% this year. It is unfamiliar territory for FLSmidth, whose stock has declined over the past five calendar years.
The practice of short-selling means investors borrow stock and sell it, betting it will decline so they can make a profit when they repurchase it.
FLSmidth earlier this month reported Q3 earnings that beat analyst estimates. The report was a turning point in the investment story of the company.
