United Airlines - UAL Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of United Airlines shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. As of January 15th, traders have sold 18,800,000 shares of UAL short. Learn More on United Airlines' current short interest.

The short interest ratio, also known as the "days to cover ratio", is calculated by dividing the number of shares of a stock sold short divided by its average trading volume. A short interest ratio ranging between 1 and 4 generally indicates strong positive sentiment about a stock and a lack of short sellers. A short interest ratio of 10 or greater indicates strong pessimism about a stock. UAL shares currently have a short interest ratio of 2.0. Learn More on United Airlines's short interest ratio.

As of the most recent reporting period, the following institutional investors, funds, and major shareholders have reported short positions of United Airlines: SG Americas Securities LLC, Simplex Trading LLC, Bank of Montreal Can, Wolverine Asset Management LLC, Concourse Financial Group Securities Inc., Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P., CMT Capital Markets Trading GmbH, Capital Markets Trading UK LLP, Jane Street Group LLC, Jade Capital Advisors LLC, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC, Nomura Holdings Inc., Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P., Caas Capital Management LP, Citadel Advisors LLC, Royal Bank of Canada, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC, Wolverine Trading LLC, Centiva Capital LP, UBS Oconnor LLC, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC, Twin Tree Management LP, Wolverine Asset Management LLC, Bank of Montreal Can, UBS Group AG, Group One Trading L.P., and IMC Chicago LLC. These positions are disclosed in Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

United Airlines saw a increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,800,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the previous total of 17,880,000 shares. Changes in short volume can be used to identify positive and negative investor sentiment. Investors that short sell a stock are betting that its price will decline in the future. An increase in short sale volume suggests bearish (negative) sentiment among investors. A decrease on short sale volume suggests bullish (positive) sentiment.

Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "transportation" compare to United Airlines: Southwest Airlines Co. (1.47%), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (2.99%), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (2.64%), Ryanair Holdings plc (0.23%), China Southern Airlines Company Limited (0.00%), American Airlines Group Inc. (13.97%), China Eastern Airlines Co. Limited (0.00%), ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (2.51%), Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (5.75%), and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Co. (1.17%).

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Occidental Petroleum Co. ($3.43 billion), T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. ($2.26 billion), Coinbase Global, Inc. ($2.19 billion), Etsy, Inc. ($1.78 billion), Paramount Global ($1.77 billion), Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. ($1.69 billion), United Rentals, Inc. ($1.53 billion), American Airlines Group Inc. ($1.52 billion), PG&E Co. ($1.48 billion), and Voya Financial, Inc. ($1.47 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling UAL is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from United Airlines as its price is falling. UAL shares are trading down $0.20 today. To short a stock, an investor borrows shares, sells them and buys the shares back on the public market later to return it to the lender. Short sellers are betting that a stock will decline in price. If the stock does drop after selling, the short seller buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender. The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the trader's profit.

A short squeeze for United Airlines occurs when it has a large amount of short interest and its stock increases in price. This forces short sellers to cover their short interest positions by buying actual shares of UAL, which in turn drives the price of the stock up even further.

Short interest is typically published by a stock exchange once per month. However, NASDAQ publishes a report for U.S. stocks, including UAL, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is January, 15 2023.