Why this matters: PUK short sellers have dramatically cut positions over the past month. The options market is confirming the shift in sentiment.
Estimated short shares stood at 491,493 on August 17. That is down 44% from one month ago. The pace of covering has been steady and consistent — not a single-day flush.
Short interest peaked above 1.36 million shares in early July. It has more than halved since. The direction is unambiguous.
The short score reflects the change. It fell from 45.3 on August 6 to 39.0 by August 17 — a notable slide in under two weeks.
Availability stood at 240% on August 17, up 77% week-on-week. That means roughly 2.4 shares are available to borrow for every one already borrowed. The lending market is no longer a constraint.
Cost to borrow has also collapsed. It sits at 1.04%, down 54% over the past month. In early July it was running above 2.4%. The pressure that once made shorting costly has largely dissipated.
The put-call ratio dropped to 0.74 on August 18. The 20-day average is 0.90. The resulting z-score of -2.38 places current options positioning well outside the normal range on the bullish side.
That compares starkly to a PCR above 1.09 in mid-July. Options traders have rotated away from protective puts.
Prudential reports earnings on August 26. Prior prints have not been kind — the stock fell 4.6% the day after May results and lost 13.4% over the following five days.
The ORTEX factor scores add context. Analyst recommendation differential ranks at the 94th percentile. Dividend score sits at 84. EPS momentum over 30 days ranks at 74. These are strong underlying readings heading into the print.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open PUK on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
