Cineworld shares collapsed on Monday after the company closed its UK and US theatres after the latest James Bond picture was delayed. Shares dived around 44% to trade at 22p.
Lumbered with over $8bn in debt and with a $1.6bn loss in the first half, things were looking dicey for Cineworld well before today’s update. Short interest in the stock was exceptionally high as hedge funds circled a vulnerable member of the herd.
Looking at Shorttracker.co.uk we can see the following stocks are the top targets by short sellers.
| Company | % short | Funds short |
| CINEWORLD GROUP | 8.50% | 8 |
| PREMIER OIL PLC | 8.10% | 2 |
| TULLOW OIL PLC | 7.90% | 5 |
| METRO BANK PLC | 7.80% | 5 |
| PEARSON PLC | 7.80% | 7 |
| PETROFAC LTD | 7.80% | 5 |
| CARILLION PLC | 7.20% | 6 |
| HAMMERSON PLC | 7.20% | 6 |
| SAINSBURY (J) PLC | 6.50% | 4 |
| TUI AG | 6.10% | 8 |
| INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINE-DI | 5.90% | 7 |
| BABCOCK INTL GROUP PLC | 5.80% | 4 |
| PETROPAVLOVSK PLC | 5.60% | 2 |
| WEIR GROUP PLC/THE | 5.40% | 5 |
| BLUE PRISM GROUP PLC | 4.70% | 5 |
| IQE PLC | 4.70% | 3 |
| VODAFONE GROUP PLC | 4.40% | 4 |
| FUTURE PLC | 4.20% | 4 |
| DOMINO’S PIZZA GROUP PLC | 4.00% | 6 |
| WOOD GROUP (JOHN) PLC | 4.00% | 6 |
| CAPITA PLC | 3.80% | 5 |
| MICRO FOCUS INTERNATIONAL | 3.80% | 3 |
| N. Brown Group | 3.80% | 3 |
| WM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS | 3.70% | 3 |
| ASHMORE GROUP PLC | 3.50% | 4 |
It’s not always the best indicator but the Altman Z-Score is always worth looking at. Here’s the lowest scoring stocks on the FTSE 350. (source: Reuters)
| Name | RIC | Altman Z-Score |
| FTSE 350 Index | .FTLC | — |
| Vodafone Group PLC | VOD.L | -0.43 |
| London Stock Exchange Group PLC | LSE.L | 0.03 |
| IntegraFin Holdings plc | IHPI.L | 0.08 |
| TP ICAP PLC | TCAPI.L | 0.16 |
| Ninety One PLC | N91.L | 0.23 |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC | RR.L | 0.62 |
| Premier Foods PLC | PFD.L | 0.62 |
| Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC | AML.L | 0.65 |
| ContourGlobal PLC | GLO.L | 0.70 |
| Intermediate Capital Group PLC | ICP.L | 0.73 |
| Airtel Africa PLC | AAF.L | 0.77 |
| Severn Trent PLC | SVT.L | 0.77 |
| Capita PLC | CPI.L | 0.84 |
| United Utilities Group PLC | UU.L | 0.85 |
| IWG Plc | IWG.L | 0.85 |
| SSE PLC | SSE.L | 1.05 |
| Energean PLC | ENOG.L | 1.06 |
| Cineworld Group PLC | CINE.L | 1.08 |
| Pennon Group PLC | PNN.L | 1.09 |
| National Grid PLC | NG.L | 1.11 |
| Petropavlovsk PLC | POG.L | 1.11 |
| FirstGroup PLC | FGP.L | 1.13 |
| Diversified Gas & Oil PLC | DGOC.L | 1.15 |
| Mitchells & Butlers PLC | MAB.L | 1.18 |
| Talktalk Telecom Group PLC | TALK.L | 1.18 |
| TUI AG | TUIT.L | 1.19 |
| British Land Company PLC | BLND.L | 1.21 |
| BT Group PLC | BT.L | 1.23 |
| National Express Group PLC | NEX.L | 1.24 |
| Signature Aviation PLC | SIGSI.L | 1.25 |
Traders can make up their own minds about which companies may require additional capital raising using the Reuters equity analysis tool in the platform.
Risk Warning: this article represents only the author’s views and is for reference only. It does not constitute investment advice or financial guidance, nor does it represent the stance of the Markets.com platform.When considering shares, indices, forex (foreign exchange) and commodities for trading and price predictions, remember that trading CFDs involves a significant degree of risk and could result in capital loss.Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice. Trading cryptocurrency CFDs and spread bets is restricted for all UK retail clients.
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