Michael P. Regan, Columnist

Shorts Back Away From Most-Hated Bank

Analysts don't like People's United Financial, but its shares are holding up.

June 6, 2016 at 6:19 PM UTC

Michael P. Regan is the global team leader for cryptocurrencies at Bloomberg as well as a former senior markets editor and former Americas team leader for Bloomberg's Markets Live blog. He has covered Wall Street for Bloomberg News as a columnist and editor since 2007. He previously worked for the Associated Press.

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There are a few metrics that make People's United Financial stick out like a sore thumb compared with other bank stocks.

For one thing, analysts are united in their stance on People's United: They don't like it. The stock has zero ratings of "buy" or the equivalent among a dozen analysts who rate it; there are seven holds and five sells. That makes it the least-loved stock in the KBW Bank Index, according to a tally of ratings tracked by Bloomberg. The average 12-month price target implies the shares are expected to drop 9 percent.

The Connecticut-based lender is also the most-shorted stock in the KBW index by a long shot. About 12 percent of its free float has been borrowed and sold, almost double the next most-shorted stock in the index (Zions Bancorporation) and about five times the average of the 24 banks in the gauge, according to data from Markit. It would take almost seven and a half days to cover the short positions based on volume trends, also the most among the 24 banks.