Equinix Inc (EQIX), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP)–Hedge Fund Battleground Stocks: What Should You Do?

It’s Ackman again! He’s been public regarding his large short of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), contributing to the multilevel marketer’s high short interest. However, federal regulators have shown no clear sign of imminent legal action against the company and financial results continue to be good. With the stock currently featuring trailing and forward P/Es of 14 and 11, respectively, it has been getting increased interest among the filers we track. Ackman archrival Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital reported a position of nearly 17 million shares of Herbalife at the end of Q2 (check out more stocks Icahn owns).

A list of heavily shorted stocks isn’t really complete without at least one for-profit education company, and our database shows 31 hedge funds and other notable investors with positions in Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL). Value investor Joel Greenblatt was moving into the stock between April and June (research more stocks Greenblatt has been buying). Revenue dropped 16% in Apollo’s fiscal Q3 (which ended in May) versus a year earlier, and earnings were down more than 40%. Analysts expect EPS to continue to decline, though if the company could stabilize next year it might be a value opportunity at a forward P/E of 10.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.