Analyzing Short Interest in Devon Energy Stock

• As of June 30, 2017, Devon Energy’s (DVN) total shares shorted (or short interest) stood at ~10.4 million, whereas its average daily volume was ~5.9 million. That means the short interest ratio for DVN stock is ~1.77x. The average daily volume is calculated for the short interest reporting period from June 16, 2017, to June 30, 2017.

• Devon Energy’s short interest ratio has a 52-week high of 3.35x and a 52-week low of 1.44x.
• Devon Energy’s short interest as a percentage of the 20-day average volume, the 90-day average volume, and the 180-day average volume is 1.89x, 2.18x, and 2.29x, respectively.
• When seen from the perspective of shares outstanding, the current short interest in Devon Energy stock as a percentage of shares outstanding is ~2.0%.
• Devon Energy’s short interest is on the much lower side when compared to many other upstream stocks from the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
• As you can see in the above graph, short interest in Devon Energy stock as a percentage of shares outstanding has risen from ~1.8% to ~2.0% in 2017, despite a ~30.0% fall in DVN stock during the same period. To know more about the recent performance of DVN stock, refer to Part 6 of this series.

Other oil and gas exploration and production companies such as Kosmos Energy (KOS), W&T Offshore (WTI), and Marathon Oil (MRO) have short interests as a percentage of shares outstanding of ~8.9%, ~7.4%, and ~6.1%, respectively. Just like Devon Energy, Kosmos Energy and Marathon Oil saw their short interests rise in the last month. The Direxion Daily Energy Bull 3X ETF (ERX) is a leveraged ETF that invests in domestic companies from the energy sector.

In the next part of this series, we’ll take a look at DVN’s possible trading range until its 2Q17 earnings release.