Following on from our recently written blog on the uncharacteristic contraction in short interest for UK retailers Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s, it is with interest that one of their European peers Ahold Delhaize is actually seeing the polar opposite this week according to OTAS.
The Core Summary indicates however that the expansion in short interest is not the only risk indicator flagging on the stock currently, it is also noted that an eminent Executive Board member has recently sold a large cash holding in the company whilst income investors may be concerned of the low sector relative dividend yield Ahold currently offers.
Having significantly outperformed the broader Retail sector YTD, Ahold Delhaize has subsequently struggled to make further headway post merger and listing at the end of July.
Those analysing the current market observables in OTAS may conclude that the risk landscape is becoming more uncertain for the company.
Performance: – Having outperformed the sector by 26% YTD, Ahold has started to underperform the sector(and market) over the last week and month.
Insiders:- Level A Exec. Board member James McCann recently sold €2m worth of Ahold Delhaize stock. Having only made a handful of previous transactions our chart and star ranking suggest his market timing/knowledge is self-evident.
Short Interest:- Having been practically zero, AD’s percentage of free float shares on loan has increased to 1.3% over the last week. This 5 day move is highly unusual when compared to recent history and suggests negative positioning by Long/Short funds.
Dividend:- The rally in the share price has left the 12m forward yield of 3% looking particularly low for AD when compared to sector peers. It should be noted however that the divi is over 2x covered for FY1 & 2
