Viacom Short Interest Ratio and Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of Viacom shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. As of November 15th, traders have sold 501,700 shares of VIA short. 5.06% of Viacom's shares are currently sold short. View details.

The short interest ratio, also known as the "days to cover ratio", is calculated by dividing the number of shares of a stock sold short divided by its average trading volume. A short interest ratio ranging between 1 and 4 generally indicates strong positive sentiment about a stock and a lack of short sellers. A short interest ratio of 10 or greater indicates strong pessimism about a stock. Viacom currently has a short interest ratio of 7.0.

Companies that have a short interest as a percentage of float below 10% indicates positive investor sentiment and few short sellers. Stocks with a short interest percentage above 10% is considered high, suggesting some investors are pessimistic about the stock. Companies with a short interest percentage of 20% or more indicates widespread negative sentiment. 5.06% of Viacom's floating shares are currently sold short.

Viacom saw a increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totaling 501,700 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the previous total of 467,100 shares. Changes in short volume can be used to identify positive and negative investor sentiment. Investors that short sell a stock are betting that its price will decline in the future. An increase in short sale volume suggests bearish (negative) sentiment among investors. A decrease on short sale volume suggests bullish (positive) sentiment.

Viacom currently has issued a total of 403,406,000 shares. Some of Viacom's outstanding shares are available for trading, while others are subject to various restrictions. The public float, also referred to as floating shares or "the float", are shares that publicly owned, unrestricted and available to trade on the open market. Viacom currently has a public float of 9,910,000 shares.

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: RingCentral, Inc. ($862.50 million), Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ($637.88 million), Immunomedics, Inc. ($563.17 million), Viacom, Inc. ($483.52 million), Glaukos Co. ($461.75 million), QTS Realty Trust, Inc. ($419.87 million), Smartsheet Inc ($418.21 million), Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ($393.42 million), Premier, Inc. ($342.60 million), and ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. ($280.25 million). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling VIA is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from Viacom as its price is falling. To short Viacom stock, an investor borrows shares, sells them and buys the shares back on the public market later to return it to the lender. Short sellers are betting that Viacom will decline in price. If the stock does drop after selling, the short seller buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender. The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the trader's profit.

A short squeeze for Viacom occurs when it has a large amount of short interest and its stock increases in price. This forces short sellers to cover their short interest positions by buying actual shares of VIA, which in turn drives the price of the stock up even further.

Short interest is typically published by a stock exchange once per month. However, NASDAQ publishes a report for U.S. stocks, including VIA, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is November, 15 2019.