Short bets on most consumer staple stocks rose in July

[An Unrecognizable Woman Shopping At The Supermarket]
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The short interest on 22 out of 38 consumer staple stocks—part of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLP])—rose in July vs. the previous month, while short interest for the remaining 24 stocks saw a fall in their short interest.

Short bets rose for 8 out of 12 industries in the consumer staples sector. However, the average grand total short interest increased to 2.46% in July from 2.20% in June for defensives.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:

In the consumer defensive/staples sector, Brewers remained the most shorted industry, with an average short interest of 9.08% vs. the previous month's 7.73%.

Distillers and Vintners were the second-most shorted industry and had the second-highest short interest of 8.73% in July, vs. 7.93% last month.

[Chart for change in short interest]
Short interest for consumer staples in July (Seeking Alpha)

Short interest in Household Products segment was lowest at 1.22% vs. 1.26% prior. Followed by Tobacco and Soft Drinks and Non-alcoholic Beverages segment, which was the second-lowest segment, with a short interest of 1.39% vs. 1.48%.

Short interest, which could potentially be an indicator of pessimism, calculates the number of shares sold against the company's float. (_Short Interest % = Number of Shares Sold Short ÷ Stock Float_). To note, consumer staples often underperform in rising markets but beat the falls.

LEAST SHORTED STOCKS:

* Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PG]): 0.72% vs. 0.67% last month
* Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PM]): 0.75% vs. 0.74%
* Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KO]): 0.83% vs. same.
* Walmart (NYSE:WMT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WMT]): 0.85% vs. 0.84%
* Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COST]): 1.26% vs. 1.28%

MOST SHORTED STOCKS:

* Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CPB]): 13.59% vs. 11.95%
* Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF.B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BF.B]): 10.47% vs. 9.79%
* Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TAP]): 8.14% vs. 7.73%
* Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DLTR]): 7.61% vs. 6.92%
* Hershey Foods (NYSE:HSY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HSY]): 7.03% vs. 6.69%

The S&P 500’s consumer staples sector ETF (NYSEARCA:XLP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLP]) lost 2.3% in June, compared to broader S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPY]) gain of 4.53%.

ETFs to tab consumer staples: (NYSEARCA:VDC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/VDC]), (NYSEARCA:IYK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IYK]), (NYSEARCA:FSTA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FSTA]), (NYSEARCA:KXI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KXI]), (NYSEARCA:FXG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXG]), (NYSEARCA:RSPS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RSPS]).

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* Apollo sees consumer strain as a key risk to the U.S. growth outlook [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4485297-apollo-sees-consumer-strain-as-a-key-risk-to-the-us-growth-outlook]
* Renaissance Technologies top Q2 moves include AMD, Walmart exits, new UNH buy, others [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4484941-renaissance-technologies-top-q2-moves-include-amd-walmart-exits-new-unh-buy-others]