With meme stocks rallying on Monday, analysts at Citi took a look at its short interest screen.
The investment bank notes that its top 5 retailers with the highest short interest as a % of the float are Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF), Chewy (NYSE:CHWY), RH (NYSE:RH), Floor & Decor Holdings (NYSE:FND), and Boot Barn Holdings (NYSE:BOOT). WOOF moved from 7th highest on the list in January to the highest in May.
In addition, Citi notes that on average, hardlines retail sits at 8.8% short interest as a % of the float.
Furthermore, the bank says that nine of its 15 retailers have short interest above their five-year averages, with an average of 1.2x across its coverage.
"The top 5 most shorted relative to history are FND, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Valvoline (NYSE:VVV), Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO), and WOOF," says Citi. "The bottom 5 who are tracking least shorted relative to history are Soho House & Co (SHCO), RH, Lowe's Cos. (NYSE:LOW), Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM), and CHWY.
"Relative to running this screen in January, today's reading shows lower short interest levels vs. history for TSCO, BOOT, and Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP), while AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) short interest is higher."