Analyzing the Short Interest in ConocoPhillips Stock

• As of July 31, 2017, ConocoPhillips’s (COP) total shares shorted (or short interest) was ~31.6 million, and its average daily volume was ~8.0 million. That means the short interest ratio for COP stock is ~3.94x. The average daily volume is calculated for the short interest reporting period from July 15, 2017, to July 31, 2017.

• ConocoPhillips’s short interest ratio has a 52-week low of 1.79x and a 52-week high of 3.94.
• ConocoPhillips’s short interests as a percentage of its 180-day average volume, 90-day average volume, and 20-day average volume are 4.00x, 3.92x, and 4.02x, respectively.
• From the perspective of shares outstanding, the current short interest in ConocoPhillips stock as a percentage of shares outstanding is ~2.5%.
• Short interest in ConocoPhillips stock as a percentage of shares outstanding is on the lower side compared to many other oil and gas producer stocks in the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
• As you can see in the above graph, short interest in ConocoPhillips stock as a percentage of shares outstanding has risen from ~1.17% to ~2.51% in 2017, despite an ~11.0% fall in COP stock during the same period. To know more about COP’s stock performance last week, refer to Part 1 of this series.

Other oil and gas exploration and production companies such as California Resources (CRC), Southwestern Energy (SWN), and Range Resources (RRC) have short interests as a percentage of shares outstanding of ~38.3%, ~8.3%, and ~9.8%, respectively. Like ConocoPhillips, Southwestern Energy (SWN) and Range Resources (RRC) saw their short interests fall 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.