Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Indebted companies – short or long?
Hedge funds and other investors are shorting stocks laden with the biggest debts, according to stock lending research group DataExplorers, betting they may struggle to refinance themselves.
According to the research, Yell Group and Debenhams are among the top ten non-financial firms with the biggest net debt to equity ratios out of the 300 largest listed companies in the UK.
They also rank 1st and 4th respectively in Dataexplorers’ ‘Negative Sentiment’ (DNS) indicator, which is highlights where stock out on loan — usually used for shorting — has been highest and is rising.
In Europe, meanwhile, Itinere Infraestructuras and Grupo Ferrovial are among the top ten firms with the biggest net debt to equity ratios, and rank 8th and 15th in Dataexplorers’ DNS score.
