Average short interest across US equity real estate investment trusts posted a moderate 26-basis-point decline to 3.3% of shares outstanding in the last month of 2023, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Advertising segment sees biggest drop in short interest
The advertising sector lost the most short interest on average in December 2023, with a 1.4-percentage-point fall from the previous month to 2.4% of shares outstanding.
Within the sector, OUTFRONT Media Inc. had a sizeable decline in short interest and was the 10th-biggest loser across the entire REIT industry, reporting a decrease of 1.7 percentage points to 3.0% of outstanding shares.
Advertising REIT Lamar Advertising Co. also reported a significant drop in short interest, declining 1.2 percentage points to 1.8% of shares outstanding at month-end.
The hotel sector had the next-biggest drop, with an 85-basis-point decline in average short interest to 5.2% of shares outstanding as of Dec. 29, 2023.
Hotel REIT DiamondRock Hospitality Co. had the steepest drop within the sector, falling 3.0 percentage points to 6.2% of shares outstanding, the third-largest decline among all US REITs in December 2023.
Two other hotel REITs made it on the list of 10 biggest decreases in short interest relative to shares outstanding: Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. with a decline of 2.4 percentage points and RLJ Lodging Trust, which posted a decline of 2.1 percentage points.
The farmland sector was the sole property type that posted a gain in average short interest during the month, up 13 basis points over the preceding month to 4.3% of shares outstanding as of December-end.
Farmland REIT Farmland Partners Inc. posted the biggest increase in short interest in the sector, with an increase of 46 basis points to 6.8% of outstanding shares. In contrast, Gladstone Land Corp. had a 21-basis-point decline during the month to 1.9% of shares outstanding.
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REITs with largest change in short interest
Office-focused Peakstone Realty Trust logged the largest increase in short interest in December 2023 with a 4.2-percentage-point hike to 6.4% of shares outstanding. Following were healthcare REIT Medical Properties Trust Inc. with a short interest hike of about 3.1 percentage points and single tenant REIT Agree Realty Corp. with a hike of 2.6 percentage points.
In contrast, diversified REIT JBG Smith Properties and office-focused SL Green Realty Corp. saw big declines in short interest, both down by 3.9 percentage points to 7.1% and 21.2% of outstanding shares, respectively.
REITs with largest short positions
Healthcare-focused Medical Properties Trust was the most-shorted US REIT stock, with 154.2 million shares sold short as of Dec. 29, 2023, or 25.8% of shares outstanding.
Office REIT SL Green Realty was the second-most-shorted REIT stock at 21.2% of shares outstanding, followed by office REIT Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. with short interest of 17.1% and hotel landlord Pebblebrook Hotel Trust with 15.9%.
