Sibanye Gold (SBGL) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of Sibanye Gold shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. As of January 31st, investors have sold 8,000,000 shares of SBGL short. 1.20% of Sibanye Gold's shares are currently sold short. Learn More on Sibanye Gold's 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. SBGL shares currently have a short interest ratio of 2.0. Learn More on Sibanye Gold's short interest ratio.

Companies that have a short interest as a percentage of float below 10% indicates positive investor sentiment and few short sellers. Stocks with a short interest percentage above 10% is considered high, suggesting some investors are pessimistic about the stock. Companies with a short interest percentage of 20% or more indicates widespread negative sentiment. 1.20% of Sibanye Gold's floating shares are currently sold short.

Sibanye Gold saw a increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totaling 8,000,000 shares, an increase of 34.7% from the previous total of 5,940,000 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.

Sibanye Gold currently has issued a total of 667,507,000 shares. Some of Sibanye Gold's outstanding shares are available for trading, while others are subject to various restrictions. The public float, also referred to as floating shares or "the float", are shares that publicly owned, unrestricted and available to trade on the open market. Sibanye Gold currently has a public float of 667,360,000 shares.

1.20% of Sibanye Gold's shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "basic materials" compare to Sibanye Gold: Sibanye Stillwater Limited (2.67%), Eldorado Gold Co. (2.79%), Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (2.41%), First Majestic Silver Corp. (6.94%), IAMGOLD Co. (1.63%), Coeur Mining, Inc. (5.39%), Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (3.07%), Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (1.77%), Centerra Gold Inc. (0.49%), Seabridge Gold Inc. (5.25%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Tesla, Inc. ($17.72 billion), Netflix, Inc. ($7.24 billion), Charter Communications, Inc. ($4.67 billion), Microchip Technology Incorporated ($3.34 billion), The Charles Schwab Co. ($2.53 billion), Match Group, Inc. ($2.07 billion), Carvana Co. ($1.86 billion), Omnicom Group Inc. ($1.86 billion), Snap Inc. ($1.75 billion), and Zillow Group, Inc. ($1.75 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling SBGL is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from Sibanye Gold as its price is falling. SBGL shares are trading down $0.13 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 Sibanye Gold 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 SBGL, 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 SBGL, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is January, 31 2020.