J C Penney (JCP) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of J C Penney shares that have been sold short but have not yet been closed out or covered. As of May 15th, traders have sold 91,290,000 shares of JCP short. 30.41% of J C Penney's shares are currently sold short. Learn More on J C Penney'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. JCP shares currently have a short interest ratio of 7.0. Learn More on J C Penney'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. 30.41% of J C Penney's floating shares are currently sold short.

J C Penney saw a drop in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 91,290,000 shares, a drop of 20.0% from the previous total of 114,180,000 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.

J C Penney currently has issued a total of 320,982,000 shares. Some of J C Penney'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. J C Penney currently has a public float of 300,240,000 shares.

30.41% of J C Penney's shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "retail/wholesale" compare to J C Penney: Dillard's, Inc. (11.02%), Nordstrom, Inc. (14.80%), Macy's, Inc. (8.44%), Kohl's Co. (53.83%), Burlington Stores, Inc. (5.16%), Designer Brands Inc. (22.45%), Travelzoo (2.04%), Brilliant Earth Group, Inc. (0.35%), a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. (0.45%), Junee Limited (0.28%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Charter Communications, Inc. ($4.57 billion), Match Group, Inc. ($3.08 billion), Wayfair Inc. ($2.66 billion), The Clorox Company ($2.52 billion), The Charles Schwab Co. ($2.39 billion), DexCom, Inc. ($2.39 billion), International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. ($1.88 billion), The Kroger Co. ($1.78 billion), Snap Inc. ($1.66 billion), and Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. ($1.63 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling JCP is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from J C Penney 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 J C Penney 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 JCP, 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 JCP, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is May, 15 2020.