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There’s no reason to panic here. M&A is still in the doldrums. But it’s also the case that at some point companies will start deploying those record mountains of cash on their balance sheets.
When that happens, certain investors of a bearish persuasion might be glad they took note of the contents of this list….
That’s a ranking, courtesy of Data Explorers, of companies with the lowest enterprise value to EBITDA ratios from a screening of 61 names that currently see heavy short interest above 10 per cent of total shares. Cheap stocks imply smug short-sellers, but such price moves also make these companies potential acquisition targets.
And for those that want to come at this from the opposite direction — looking specifically for bid targets — here’s a screen of the screen: companies which have seen the greatest amount of short-covering…
Related links: The trade of half a decade: long gold, short Athens – FT Alphaville Dash for trash, Hellenic edition "“ FT Alphaville "Bond market returns are about as attractive as following a plague of locusts across a field of corn" - FT Alphaville
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