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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) emerged as the most heavily shorted stock in South Korea this year, with short selling accounting for more than one-fifth of its total trading volume.
According to data from the financial investment industry on December 31, LG H&H recorded the highest short-selling ratio among all listed companies at 20.79%. This means that more than 20% of its total trading volume this year came from short-selling transactions.
The heavy short-selling pressure coincided with a decline in the company’s share price. LG H&H closed the year at 258,500 won, down 15.25% from 305,000 won at the end of last year. With the average short-selling price standing at 298,967 won, short sellers are estimated to be sitting on profits, as gains are realized when the stock price falls below the average short-selling level.
Hanjin KAL ranked second with a short-selling ratio of 15.76%. However, unlike LG H&H, its share price surged nearly 65% this year—from 75,400 won to 124,000 won—resulting in losses for short sellers at year-end.
LG Energy Solution ranked third, with short-selling volume accounting for 15.06% of total trading volume. A total of 11.01 million shares were sold short out of 73.12 million shares traded this year.
Other stocks with high short-selling ratios included SK Innovation (14.84%), S-1 Corp. (14.56%), Youngone Holdings (14.28%), HiteJinro (14.01%), LG Display (13.80%), Hotel Shilla (13.41%), and Dentium (12.90%).
In terms of trading value, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics ranked first and second, respectively. Short-selling transaction values reached KRW 12.52 trillion for SK hynix and KRW 9.52 trillion for Samsung Electronics, reflecting strong investor activity in market-leading stocks. LG Energy Solution ranked third with KRW 4.09 trillion.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
