Short sellers are unwinding positions in DVN at pace. The ORTEX short score has dropped from 40.3 on May 4 to 32.0 on May 14 — a significant 8-point decline in ten days. Three distinct data streams now point in the same direction: short interest falling, borrowing costs collapsing, and options sentiment near its most bullish level in a year.
Short interest in Devon Energy has dropped 13.6% in a single week, settling at 4.9% of free float as of May 15. That's still a meaningful position, but the direction is clear. Short sellers are pulling back.
The cost to borrow has followed suit. It hit 0.28% on May 15, down 50% in one week and the lowest level in over a month. That's firmly in "easy borrow" territory. Meanwhile, availability — the ratio of shares still available to borrow versus shares already borrowed — has surged dramatically. It stood at just 774% on May 7. By May 15, it had blown out to above 9,999%, meaning the lending pool is effectively wide open. The squeeze on borrow supply that had been building in late April has fully unwound.
The put/call ratio has declined steadily from above 0.50 in mid-April to 0.35 on May 15. That's near its 52-week low of 0.34 and sits 1.43 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.43. Options positioning is now as skewed toward calls as it has been all year — a marked contrast to the hedged, put-heavy positioning that characterised early spring.
The shift coincides with a strong price recovery. DVN is up 8.5% over the past week and 9.4% over the past month, closing at $49.49 on May 15.
Several large institutions have been adding to positions. Charles Schwab Investment Management added over 14.3 million shares in its most recent filing. Invesco built a position of 11.3 million shares. GQG Partners and Wellington Management both initiated entirely new stakes. The accumulation pattern is broad-based, not isolated.
Analyst targets remain well above current prices. UBS holds a Buy with a $60 target. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are both at $59–$60 with Overweight ratings. Piper Sandler's target sits at $67. Against a current price of $49.49, the consensus implies roughly 21% upside.
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