Analyst Note Puts Pressure on Energizer Shorts

ENR is looking to test its 200-day moving average

One stock to watch today is Energizer Holdings Inc (NYSE:ENR), after BofA-Merrill Lynch upgraded the battery maker to "buy" from "underperform," and moved its price target up by $13, to $48. This has ENR shares trading 5% higher at $42.67, testing the $42-$43 region that capped its last breakout attempt in early August, and moving within roughly 1 point of the 200-day moving average.

Interestingly, BofA's note matches the general opinion across the Street, with six of nine brokerage firms sporting "strong buy" ratings, despite the equity's one-year decline of 29.5%. Moreover, the average 12-month price target stands up to $49.91.

On the other hand, this bullish bias goes against what other traders are doing, as short interest has been rising for months. In just the last two reporting periods, short interest jumped almost 14%, putting more than one-fifth of the float in these bears' hands. Obviously, we should track these bets following today's price action, since an unwinding of short positions could provide more tailwinds.

In the options pits, calls are crossing at five times the normal rate, as it looks like traders are closing positions at the September 40 call, the most popular contract today by far. In fact, the call was home to peak open interest coming into today.