HIG Options Turn Bullish as Shorts Build

Options traders are betting against the bears at HIG. The put-call ratio has dropped to 0.77 — nearly three standard deviations below its 20-day mean of 0.93. That's the most bullish options positioning in months, even as short sellers quietly add to positions.

The Options Signal

The PCR of 0.77 sits 3.0 standard deviations below the 20-day mean. Call volume is dominating put volume by a wide margin. The 52-week PCR range runs from 0.22 to 1.09, so the current reading is firmly in bullish territory but not at an extreme low. The shift has been swift — the PCR was above 1.0 as recently as late May.

Earnings land on July 23. Options positioning ahead of that date may explain some of the call accumulation.

Short Interest Rising, But the Numbers Are Modest

Short interest climbed roughly 14% over the past week to 2.04% of free float. That's the sharpest weekly rise on record for HIG, per the pulse data. In absolute terms, though, approximately 5.68 million shares are short. At 2% of free float, the level remains low.

The borrow market is not under stress. Availability sits at 5,838% — meaning shares available to borrow dwarf those already lent out by a factor of roughly 58. Cost to borrow rose 64% week-on-week, reaching 0.49%. That sounds dramatic. It is still historically cheap.