A Look At A Few Heavily Shorted Stocks

Short interest is usually interpreted as a bearish signal from the market in relation to a particular stock; investors are basically betting on the stock price falling. An efficient way to measure short interest in a company is to compare the amount of shares shorted with the company’s float (or shares available for trade).

While it is quite uncommon that the short interest surpasses 50 percent, it can happen. Below are some stocks that fall into this category.

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Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC

The $9.5 billion market cap chicken producer has also been severely shorted. The short interest reached 53.2 percent of its float by the end of last month, and currently hoovers around 47 percent. Nonetheless, Guy Adami thinks that the stock is going to $40 (it currently trades around $35.79).

Sears Holdings Corp SHLD

The famed retailer was also very shorted recently. As of November 28, 50.4 percent of its float was shorted, a figure that remained pretty much the same over December. For insight into the short, read the conference call highlights.

ITT Educational Services, Inc. ESI

This educational services stock has been widely discussed lately, partially due to the short interest of the market and a short squeeze this week. As of the end of November, 61 percent of its float was shorted. The current short interest stands around the same figure.

Tri Pointe Homes Inc TPH

Short interest in this REIT surpasses 64 percent of its float, even though Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on its shares with a Buy rating and a target price of $18 (up from the current $14.44).

Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN

The market is even more bearish on Myriad Genetics than on the aforementioned companies. With more than 70 percent of its float shorted over the past month, this is one of the most shorted stocks in the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges, even in spite of the recent news that its Prolaris test could save the healthcare system $6 billion over 10 years.