Short Sellers Hazy on Marijuana Stocks

Companies and Brands

Published: February 28, 2019 10:40 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:07 am

Cannabis stocks had a huge showing on Wall Street this past fall. In fact, most of the news flow surrounding these stocks had investors pouring money into them. Some of these stocks even doubled or tripled in value in this time.

Although a fair number of these companies are based outside the United States, many of them trade on U.S. indexes. Marijuana is still illegal within U.S. borders on a federal level, but with Canada legalizing weed back in October, many believe that the United States will follow in the near future.

Many investors are focused on getting the jump on the cannabis industry, but they aren’t alone. And with this increased speculation short sellers have plenty of room to play with whether some prices might be overly inflated.

The February 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest moves in these selected marijuana stocks were mixed.

Short interest in Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) decreased to 21.28 million shares from the previous 22.00 million. The stock was trading at $47.65 Thursday morning, within a 52-week range of $18.93 to $59.25.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) short interest dropped slightly to 3.74 million shares from the previous 3.78 million. Shares traded at $81.64, in a 52-week range of $20.10 to $300.00.

The number of Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) shares short rose to 23.46 million from 23.27 million in the previous period. Its shares were trading at $22.05, in a 52-week range of $5.12 to $25.10.

Hexo Corp.’s (NYSE: HEXO) short interest increased to 3.52 million shares from the previous 3.36 million. The stock was trading at $5.63. The 52-week range is $4.91 to $7.60.

The number of shares short in Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) decreased to 17.76 million from the previous 19.74 million. The stock was trading at $10.27, and its 52-week range is $3.75 to $16.86.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.’s (NYSE: SMG) short interest grew to 3.72 million from the previous level of 3.26 million. Shares were trading at $81.55, in a 52-week range of $57.96 to $93.00.