Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data points have aligned on PUK within 24 hours. Short sellers are increasing positions, utilization is spiking toward its 52-week high, and options traders are positioning defensively.
Short interest climbed 17% over the past month. Shares short rose to 1.65 million as of April 22, up from 1.41 million 30 days earlier. Day-over-day, short positions increased 1.1%. The sustained build suggests bears are accumulating conviction.
Utilization jumped to 93.18%, approaching its 52-week peak of 100%. The metric surged from 88.24% just one day ago. This indicates nearly all available shares to borrow have been lent out. Cost to borrow stands at 7.77%, up 9% week-over-week, reflecting growing demand to short the stock.
Options traders turned defensive, with put-call ratio hitting 0.53. That's more than double the 20-day average of 0.27. The Z-score of 2.41 signals highly unusual bearish positioning. Options sentiment shifted sharply in recent sessions.
Prudential has seen similar convergence before. Utilization hit 100% for an extended stretch from mid-March through early April. During that period, cost to borrow spiked as high as 32% on March 26. The stock rose 7.9% over the past month despite the bearish pressure, closing at $30.76 on April 22.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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