Companies and Brands

Cannabis Short Interest Gets Even Higher

Chris Lange

Published: February 12, 2020 10:55 am

Last Updated: March 6, 2020 1:41 pm

Cannabis stocks took a shellacking in the latter half of last year. Wall Street expects profits, and none of these companies is anywhere near profitability. In the United States, high state and local taxes took a toll on sales, as did the lack of federal legalization of marijuana for either medical or recreational use.

While a fair number of these companies are based outside the United States, many of them trade on U.S. indexes. And with Canada legalizing weed back in October of 2018, many hope that the United States will follow in the near future.

Many investors are wondering where the cannabis stocks go from here. With this increased speculation, short sellers have plenty of room to play with whether share prices have bottomed.

The January 31 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest in most of these selected marijuana stocks increased.

Short interest in Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) increased to 47.30 million shares from the previous 46.62 million. The stock was trading at $19.79 Wednesday morning, within a 52-week range of $13.81 to $52.74.

The number of Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) shares short decreased slightly to 62.47 million from 62.94 million in the previous period. Its shares were trading at $6.86, in a 52-week range of $6.04 to $24.37.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) saw its short interest increase to 191.69 million shares from 178.84 million in the prior period. The stock was trading at $1.55. The 52-week range is $1.50 to $10.32.

Tilray Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TLRY) short interest rose to 10.01 million shares from the previous 7.95 million. Shares traded at $16.50, in a 52-week range of $15.01 to $83.10.

Short interest in Aphria Inc. (NYSE: APHA) grew to 33.48 million from the previous 32.04 million. The stock was trading at $4.23, and its 52-week range is $3.76 to $10.68.

In OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OGI), short interest increased to 33.48 million from the prior 32.04 million. The stock was trading at $2.32, and the 52-week range is $1.89 to $8.44.

Hexo Corp.’s (NYSE: HEXO) short interest fell to 30.74 million shares from the previous 28.83 million. The stock was trading at $1.31. The 52-week range is $1.22 to $8.40.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CTST) short interest rose to 14.98 million shares from the previous 12.91 million. Shares traded at $0.84, in a 52-week range of $0.75 to $10.17.