But natural gas prices have regained slightly, meaning the March lows could signal a bottom. Right now the short float remains elevated. One reason some will is they anticipate a short squeeze play - where a rise in the stock price forces short sellers to buy to cover their short position, adding a bigger pop to the end of any rally. Now investors are asking, 'Should I buy CHK stock?' As of Friday, CHK stock was trading at $16.54.

By last month, they had fallen $2.511 per million BTU - a nearly 60% decline.įrom June 2014 to March 2015, CHK stock fell 54% from $29.07 to $13.42.Ĭhesapeake has since recouped a little bit of those losses. Natural gas prices topped out at $6.149 per million British thermal units (BTU) in February 2014. Traders saw a collapse in natural gas prices and began laying the short bets on CHK - the country's second-largest natural gas producer after Exxon Mobil Corp. No doubt, the short sellers have pummeled CHK stock. Chesapeake has a market cap of $11 billion, and it trades 21 million shares on average daily. 'Its combined market cap and high daily liquidity make it a short player's dream,' Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. That compares to the S&P 500, which has an average short float of 3.7%. That means of outstanding shares of CHK stock floated - those that are freely bought and sold without restriction -nearly one-quarter have bearish bets taken out on them. A lot of traders see CHK stock price weakness, and they want to profit from an anticipated fall.ĬHK's short float sits at 22.5%. (NYSE: CHK) stock has been getting some unwanted attention from short sellers. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Sign me up for the Money Morning newsletter Your email address will not be published. Or to contact Money Morning Customer Service, click here. Comment on This Story Click here to cancel reply.

Nyse chk