With most Q1 earnings reports out of the way, short sellers are sticking with their favourite targets. Bonterra Energy (BNE) is the only new name on our ten most shorted stock list (as a % of float), replacing Laurentian Bank (LB) which is now the 11th most shorted stock. The top two spots continue to be held by Paramount Resources (POU) and High Liner Foods (HLF).
Paramount stock was more or less been able to hold its own against short sellers since the April 30th IIROC report up until Wednesday. The stock moved higher after the company released quarterly earnings but has since given up some of those gains and has been falling along with the broad market on Thursday. Meanwhile, High Liner has taken both longs and shorts for a wild ride over the past two weeks, trading as low at $6.83 and as high as $8.95. Shorts have added to their positions in both of the top two names.
| Top 10 Canadian Stocks Shorted as of May 15, 2019* | ||||||
| Stock | Shares Short | %Float | Change | INK Signal | ||
| 1 | POU | Paramount Resources | 8,151,175 | 28.90% | 0.62% | Squeeze |
| 2 | HLF | High Liner Foods | 4,042,622 | 19.63% | 1.86% | Bearish |
| 3 | CJT | Cargojet | 2,141,922 | 18.33% | 6.29% | Bearish |
| 4 | GWO | Great-West Lifeco | 27,654,978 | 12.68% | -0.11% | Squeeze |
| 5 | ACQ | AutoCanada | 2,891,178 | 10.82% | 0.65% | Bearish |
| 6 | SSL | Sandstorm Gold | 18,093,973 | 10.44% | 0.12% | Bearish |
| 7 | EQB | Equitable Group | 1,067,903 | 9.57% | -0.30% | Squeeze |
| 8 | BNE | Bonterra Energy | 1,979,397 | 9.53% | 0.22% | Squeeze |
| 9 | NOA | North American Constr. | 2,308,974 | 9.38% | -0.38% | Bearish |
| 10 | CHW | Chesswood Group | 813,261 | 9.11% | 0.17% | Squeeze |
*Stocks trading over $1
Shorts are also getting more aggressive against Cargojet (CJT) as the stock regained some altitude following earnings which were released on May 6th and news of the Westjet (WJA) takeover announced May 13th.
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.
This post first appeared on INKResearch.com.