Vistry Group (LON: VTY) remains the most shorted company in short interest trackers, with a figure of 16.74. The housebuilder sits ahead of Ibstock at 12.9. The table is UK-wide data that comes from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator.
Vistry shares closed on Friday at about 253p, up 2.0% from about 248p the session before, according to a delayed quote. They traded between roughly 247p and 258p on the day.
Short interest is the share of a company bet against by disclosed short positions. The tracker’s last-month column also reads 16.74 for Vistry, so it shows no change on the month.
The top five on the tracker’s current and last-month figures:
| Company | Current | Last month |
|---|---|---|
| Vistry | 16.74 | 16.74 |
| Ibstock | 12.9 | 12.9 |
| WH Smith | 9.99 | 9.99 |
| Greggs | 9.29 | 9.29 |
| Wizz Air Holdings | 9.12 | 9.12 |
Vistry’s lead over Ibstock is clear. Crest Nicholson Holdings, another housebuilder, is seventh at 8.1, so Vistry, Ibstock and Crest Nicholson hold three of the top seven places.
The tracker shows five disclosed holders of short positions in Vistry. Two are Schonfeld entities listed separately: Schonfeld Strategic Advisors (UK) LLP at 2.44 and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC at 0.73. The others are Citadel Advisors LLC, Soundstone Italy S.r.l and Premier Miton Group plc.
| Fund | % short | Change | Date changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schonfeld Strategic Advisors (UK) LLP | 2.44 | +0.19 | the 8th of July |
| Citadel Advisors LLC | 1.19 | -0.02 | the 9th of July |
| Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC | 0.73 | +0.07 | the 9th of July |
| Soundstone Italy S.r.l | 0.68 | +0.11 | the 8th of July |
| Premier Miton Group plc | 0.54 | +0.54 | the 8th of July |
Each date is when that holder’s position last changed, not when it was opened. These are July 2026 filings, so the table is not a current line-up. Premier Miton’s change of 0.54 matches its full 0.54 position. The holder rows do not add up to the tracker’s headline figure, so the two should not be read as one total.
The material does not say why these holders are short. The page itself carries no date. It covers only disclosed positions and does not generally include those below the 0.5% threshold.
One older lead exists. Building, a UK construction trade publication, reported in May that a source at Vistry said short sellers were “contributing nothing” to UK housing need, after a profit warning the previous week. That dates from May and is not a verified current explanation.
Heavily shorted shares can rally sharply if short sellers have to buy shares back to close positions. That is a general feature of short selling, not a forecast for Vistry.