AK Steel (AKS) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of AK Steel shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. As of February 28th, investors have sold 31,940,000 shares of AKS short. 10.33% of AK Steel's shares are currently sold short. Learn More on AK Steel's current short interest.

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. AKS shares currently have a short interest ratio of 4.0. Learn More on AK Steel's short interest ratio.

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. 10.33% of AK Steel's floating shares are currently sold short.

AK Steel saw a increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totaling 31,940,000 shares, an increase of 34.0% from the previous total of 23,840,000 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.

AK Steel currently has issued a total of 316,909,000 shares. Some of AK Steel'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. AK Steel currently has a public float of 309,340,000 shares.

10.33% of AK Steel's shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "basic materials" compare to AK Steel: Algoma Steel Group Inc. (3.57%), TimkenSteel Co. (6.22%), Oil-Dri Co. of America (0.92%), Lightwave Logic, Inc. (16.79%), Hudson Technologies, Inc. (2.52%), McEwen Mining Inc (3.38%), TMC the metals company Inc. (8.47%), Valhi, Inc. (1.96%), Compass Minerals International, Inc. (7.65%), Ranpak Holdings Corp. (1.94%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Tesla, Inc. ($7.24 billion), Charter Communications, Inc. ($4.18 billion), Microchip Technology Incorporated ($2.36 billion), McKesson Co. ($2.18 billion), Tiffany & Co. ($1.90 billion), The Charles Schwab Co. ($1.85 billion), Match Group, Inc. ($1.60 billion), Hormel Foods Co. ($1.59 billion), The Clorox Company ($1.52 billion), and eBay Inc. ($1.45 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling AKS is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from AK Steel as its price is falling. To short a 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 a stock 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 AK Steel 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 AKS, 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 AKS, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is February, 28 2020.