Average short interest in US REITs flat in February

US equity real estate investment trusts barely saw any movement in average short interest in February.

Average REIT short interest for the month was up only 2 basis points from January to 3.4% of shares outstanding, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Self-storage segment logs biggest hike

The self-storage sector gained the most short interest on average across all property types, with a 26-basis-point increase from the prior month to 2.3% of shares outstanding as of Feb. 29.

Within the segment, National Storage Affiliates Trust had the largest increase in short interest, up 74 basis points to 5% of its shares outstanding, making it the 10th-biggest gainer across the entire REIT industry.

Another big gainer in the self-storage segment was CubeSmart, with short interest rising 39 basis points to 2.7% of its shares outstanding at month-end. The remaining three self-storage REITs — Extra Space Storage Inc., Public Storage and Global Self Storage — posted minimal gains during the same period.

The second-biggest hike in average short interest was seen in the office sector, which had a 24-basis-point increase to 5.6% of shares outstanding at month-end.

Office Properties Income Trust had the steepest increase within its sector and among all US REITs, posting a 2.7-percentage-point increase to 13.4% of its shares outstanding.

Three other office REITs landed on the list of the 10 biggest gainers in February: SL Green Realty Corp., Cousins Properties Inc. and Empire State Realty Trust Inc.

Advertising REITs came in third, with an increase of 14 basis points in average short interest to 2.3% of shares outstanding at February-end.

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On the other side of the spectrum, the datacenter sector registered the biggest loss in average short interest across all property types, falling 40 basis points from the previous month to 2.3% of shares outstanding as of February-end.

Datacenter REIT Digital Realty Trust Inc. had the largest decline in short interest within the sector, down 47 basis points to 3.4% of its outstanding shares. From the same sector, Equinix Inc.'s short interest dropped 32 basis points to 1.1% of its outstanding shares.

The shopping center segment booked the next-biggest drop with a 21-basis-point decline in average short interest to 2.2% of shares outstanding as of February-end. It was followed by the regional mall sector, declining 17 basis points to 4.0% of shares outstanding.

REITs with the most change in short interest

Following Office Properties Income Trust, hotel-focused Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and diversified REIT JBG Smith Properties had the next-largest increases in short interest among all US REITs in February, both rising 1.4 percentage points from the prior month to 15.7% and 8% of their shares outstanding, respectively.

Hotel landlord Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. had the biggest drop in short interest in February, down 2.2 percentage points to 6.3% of its outstanding shares.

REITs with largest short positions

Healthcare-focused Medical Properties Trust Inc. was the most-shorted US REIT stock, with 196.1 million shares sold short, or 32.7% of shares outstanding, as of Feb. 29.

Office REIT SL Green Realty Corp. was the second-most shorted US REIT stock, at 21.8% of its shares outstanding, followed by single tenant-focused NETSTREIT Corp., at 19.6% of its shares outstanding.