CATO Short Volume

The Cato Corporation (CATO) operates in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically the Apparel - Retail industry, with a market capitalization near $51.9M, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 7,000 people, carrying a beta of 0.56 to the broader market. The Cato Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of fashion apparel and accessories primarily in the southeastern United States. Led by John Derham Cato, public since 1987-04-22.

Short volume measures the number of shares sold short on a given day as reported by FINRA. Tracking short volume relative to total volume helps identify unusual bearish sentiment or short-squeeze potential.

Latest Date
2026-05-15
Short Volume
37.9K
Total Volume
63.7K
Short %
59.44%
30-Day Avg Short %
47.63%

Showing 30 days of FINRA short volume data for The Cato Corporation.

Learn how short volume is reported and how to read the data →

Frequently asked CATO short volume questions

What is the daily CATO short volume?
As of May 15, 2026, The Cato Corporation (CATO) short volume is 37.9K shares against 63.7K total reported volume, or 59.44% short-side. Short volume measures shares sold short during the day; it is flow, not inventory.
How is CATO short volume reported?
FINRA publishes the Daily Short Sale Volume File for trades reported to FINRA TRFs and the FINRA/Nasdaq ADF on a T+1 basis. The headline figure is the count of shares that printed at the short-sale or short-exempt tick across all reporting venues for the symbol; each exchange separately publishes its own daily short-sale data file.
What does CATO short volume tell options traders?
Daily short-sale flow is one input that helps disambiguate dealer-hedging activity from directional bear flow when the chain shows fresh customer call inventory. It is not a clean MM-only proxy: the headline number mixes directional shorting, options-MM delta-hedging, ETF-creation arbitrage, and convertible-arb hedging. Cross-check against gamma-exposure and OI changes for a cleaner read.