Shorts continue to press their bets against Paramount Resources (POU) and High Liner Foods (HLF) which remain the two top favourite short targets in Canada based on the May 31st IIROC short report released today. Although short positions fell as a percentage of float in both names since the May 15th IIROC short report, the reductions were not enough to move the two stocks down the list of the most shorted names in Canada.
Shorts reduced their exposure to Paramount stock by less than 1%, reluctant to take more profits with the stock off about 20% over the past month. In contrast, High Liner is up about 9% which may be prompting some shorts to cover.
| Top 10 Canadian Stocks Shorted as of May 31, 2019* | ||||||
| Stock | Shares Short | %Float | Change | INK Signal | ||
| 1 | POU | Paramount Resources | 7,894,749 | 27.99% | -0.91% | Squeeze |
| 2 | HLF | High Liner Foods | 3,624,475 | 17.60% | -2.03% | Bearish |
| 3 | GWO | Great West Lifeco | 27,803,891 | 12.75% | 0.07% | Squeeze |
| 4 | CJT | Cargojet | 1,345,683 | 11.09% | -6.56% | Bearish |
| 5 | BTB.UN | BTB REIT | 6,037,590 | 11.07% | 2.52% | Bearish |
| 6 | ACQ | AutoCanada | 2,950,514 | 11.04% | 0.22% | Bearish |
| 7 | SSL | Sandstorm Gold | 17,953,338 | 10.36% | -0.08% | Bearish |
| 8 | BNE | Bonterra Energy | 1,984,050 | 9.56% | 0.02% | Squeeze |
| 9 | NOA | North American Constr. | 2,327,687 | 9.45% | 0.08% | Bearish |
| 10 | CHW | Chesswood Group | 839,564 | 9.41% | 0.29% | Squeeze |
*Stocks trading over $1
The only new name on the list this week is BTB REIT which announced a $25 million bought deal offering of units at a price of $4.67 per unit on May 27th. It replaces Equitable Group (Mostly Sunny; EQB) which dropped to the number 11th spot with 9.31% of its float shorted.
The top three gainers in terms of short exposure which could not be explained by a financing or corporate action such as a takeover were VersaPay (Mostly Sunny; VPY), Birchcliff Energy (Mostly Sunny; BIR) and Fortuna Silver Mines (Mixed; FVI) with 1.00%, 5.10% and 2.03% of their respective floats shorted. All three have the potential for a short squeeze according based on our signals.
INK signals in this report are based on comparing short-selling interest and insider commitment levels at the firm. The signals are available for stocks with INK Edge rankings in the short report tab on the INK company pages.
INK Edge outlook ranking categories (Sunny, Mostly Sunny, Mixed, Cloudy, Rainy) are designed to identify groups of stocks that have the potential to out- or under-perform the market. However, any individual stock could surprise on the up or downside. As such, outlook categories are not meant to be stock-specific recommendations. For background on our INK Edge outlook, please watch our short video or visit our FAQ #5 at INKResearch.com.
This article first appeared on INKResearch.com.