How Are The Shorts Trading Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI)?

In the financial blogosphere, there are tons of indicators for Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) readers to keep an eye on, but it’s absolutely crucial to be aware of a company’s short interest. Two pieces of data we can use are: (a) the chunk of a company’s shares that bears are currently shorting, and (b) the difference in short interest.

Heightened bearish shorting typically indicates what you’d think: Wall Street has become less optimistic about a company. Short selling that’s too high, though, sometimes has a bullish effect on share price, as short-ers may be forced to cover their stock.

At Insider Monkey, it’s not a secret that we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment, but it’s also crucial to pair this information with aggregate short sale information. A few, mega- investors might share that they’re short on a certain stock, but it’s not an SEC requirement. Nonetheless, some individual investors might want to stay away from heavily shorted companies with elevated hedge fund investment, while others might want short-squeeze plays. For readers wanting a market-beating piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

Let’s take a gander at the latest data swirling around Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI).

Analyzing the newest FINRA short interest data, which is reported two times each month, we can see that Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) has a short interest of 12.20% of float, nearly the same as the previous filing. With a float of 3.07B shares, this is a short ratio of 8.40.

It’s also important to take note of hedge fund sentiment from their 13F forms. Of the funds we track, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors had the biggest position in Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI), worth close to $221.6 million, comprising 3.4% of its total 13F portfolio. In the second spot is SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $164.8 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management and Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital.

Also, insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) has seen 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

These tools–short interest data, hedge fund sentiment and insider trading history–are something every reader should track. Although it’s hard to formulate a usable strategy from short interest information, hedgie and insider sentiment provide lots of market beating opportunities if you know where to look.