The Most Shorted Stocks In The Main U.S. Exchanges

Looking at short interest is a good way grasp the market’s sentiment in relation to a particular stock. High short interest ratios imply investors are expecting for a stock’s price to fall.

So, this article will take a look at some of the most shorted stocks (measured by shorts as a percentage of the float) in the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, as measured by the Wall Street Journal.

Shares of Shake Shack Inc SHAK have gained almost 70 percent since they started trading in the NYSE on February 2, 2015.  However, the market seems to think this rally has an expiration date, as the stock is the most shorted one right now.

Related Link: Shake Shack Units Valued At About $50 Million Each

As of the end of May, Shake Shack’s shares shorted (2.37 million) represented 89.23 percent of the float.

Within Nasdaq stocks, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC has the highest short interest as a percentage of its float. Despite a decrease of almost 5 percent in shorts, the company has more than 41 million shares sold short. These stand for 65.19 percent of the float.

Related Link: 13F Season: Tiger Cub Manish Chopra Seems Fond Of Consumer Discretionary Stocks

Although the stock has fallen more than 25 percent year-to-date, it seems like investors still see plenty of downside left.

Another heavily shorted Nasdaq stock is World Acceptance Corp. WRLD, a small-cap small-loan consumer finance business operator. According to the Wall Street Journal, 4.2 million shares, or 56.22 percent of the float is shorted in World Acceptance Corp. This implies that short interest rose by low double digits over the past month.

Back to the NYSE, King Digital Entertainment PLC KING is the runner-up, with 20.98 million shares, or 53.33 percent of the float, sold short.