Oil rigs. Shutterstock
The retail-trader hype caused Camber Energy stock to jump 29% on Thursday
According to Fintel.io data, the Houston-based oil and natural gas company is severely understaffed.
As oil and gas prices continue to rise, so does the share price surge.
Check out more stories from Insider's business page.
Camber Energy shares rose as high as 29% on Thursday, as retail traders hyped up shares via social media and data pointed to a short-squeeze opportunity.
According to TopStonks.com, the Houston-based oil & gas company was trending on Twitch users Thursday. According to Quiver Quantitative data, the company was the fifth most mentioned stock on Wednesday's r/WallStreetBets Subreddit with 91 mentions.
"CEI to Pluto," one Redditor said of the stock's ticker on r/WallStreetbetsELITE.
Fintel.io data shows that short interest in Camber Energy stock increased threefold to 24.4million shares, from 6.1million shares in September. This gives the company a 23.5% shortinterest as percent of its float.
Social media-savvy retail traders have been known to target companies with high short rates of interest in the past. Data now suggests that retail traders are scaring short sellers from mid-sized companies.
Camber Energy's majority-owned subsidiary Viking Energy Group owns a working stake in more than 145 oil fields in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, according to the company.
Its shares are rising as US oil and natural gas prices rise amid supply-side concerns. Camber did not respond immediately to Insider's request.
Camber and Virgin Galactic led gains in meme stocks Thursday while well-known memes such as GameStop fell behind.
