20 Undervalued Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers

The following is a list of undervalued stocks, as defined by the Price to Free Cash Flow (P/FCF) ratio. All of the stocks mentioned below have P/FCF ratios below 5, which usually signal undervalued conditions.

In addition, all of these stocks have seen a sharp increase in the number of shares shorted between 9/15 - 12/15.

Short sellers seem to think this is a list of value traps--what do you think? Full details below.

Short trends data sourced from AOL Money, performance and P/FCF data sourced from Finviz.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research. Note: The numbers on top of items represent the forward P/E ratio, if available.

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The list has been sorted by the change in shares shorted between 9/15 - 12/15. (Note: All data sourced on Friday afternoon, January 7)

1. Regions Financial Corp. (RF): Regional Bank. Market cap of $8.97B. P/FCF ratio at 4.05. Shares shorted have increased from 31.86M to 58.48M over the last three months. Short float at 4.66%, which implies a short ratio of 2.11 days. The stock has gained 16.48% over the last year.

2. SUPERVALU Inc. (SVU): Grocery Stores Industry. Market cap of $1.95B. P/FCF ratio at 2.87. Shares shorted have increased from 18.84M to 28.58M over the last three months. Short float at 13.61%, which implies a short ratio of 4.48 days. The stock has lost -26.4% over the last year.

3. PulteGroup, Inc. (PHM): Residential Construction Industry. Market cap of $3.15B. P/FCF ratio at 2.66. Shares shorted have increased from 38.24M to 45.45M over the last three months. Short float at 13.45%, which implies a short ratio of 5.25 days. The stock has lost -20.64% over the last year.

4. Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ): Rental & Leasing Services Industry. Market cap of $6.B. P/FCF ratio at 2.87. Shares shorted have increased from 29.28M to 35.88M over the last three months. Short float at 8.83%, which implies a short ratio of 7.7 days. The stock has gained 24.81% over the last year.

5. KeyCorp (KEY): Money Center Banks Industry. Market cap of $7.67B. P/FCF ratio at 3.15. Shares shorted have increased from 39.45M to 45.55M over the last three months. Short float at 5.19%, which implies a short ratio of 3.53 days. The stock has gained 36.95% over the last year.

6. Boise Inc. (BZ): Paper & Paper Products Industry. Market cap of $690.79M. P/FCF ratio at 3.08. Shares shorted have increased from 8.77M to 13.43M over the last three months. Short float at 18.31%, which implies a short ratio of 8.74 days. The stock has gained 41.74% over the last year.

7. Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. (AHL): Property & Casualty Insurance Industry. Market cap of $2.2B. P/FCF ratio at 3.82. Shares shorted have increased from 1.47M to 6.08M over the last three months. Short float at 7.95%, which implies a short ratio of 8.82 days. The stock has gained 7.09% over the last year.

8. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY): REIT. Market cap of $10.98B. P/FCF ratio at 1.48. Shares shorted have increased from 26.93M to 31.21M over the last three months. Short float at 5.05%, which implies a short ratio of 2.81 days. The stock has gained 17.67% over the last year.

9. Morgan Stanley (MS): Investment Brokerage Industry. Market cap of $43.57B. P/FCF ratio at 2.08. Shares shorted have increased from 13.45M to 17.39M over the last three months. Short float at 1.15%, which implies a short ratio of 1.23 days. The stock has lost -10.59% over the last year.

10. Principal Financial Group Inc. (PFG): Asset Management Industry. Market cap of $10.37B. P/FCF ratio at 4.78. Shares shorted have increased from 7.05M to 10.83M over the last three months. Short float at 3.39%, which implies a short ratio of 3.86 days. The stock has gained 27.38% over the last year.

11. W&T Offshore Inc. (WTI): Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Industry. Market cap of $1.34B. P/FCF ratio at 4.15. Shares shorted have increased from 7.72M to 10.3M over the last three months. Short float at 29.53%, which implies a short ratio of 10.59 days. The stock has gained 45.85% over the last year.

12. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): Regional Bank. Market cap of $11.64B. P/FCF ratio at 3.62. Shares shorted have increased from 22.42M to 24.39M over the last three months. Short float at 3.07%, which implies a short ratio of 1.81 days. The stock has gained 32.31% over the last year.

13. Barclays PLC (BCS): Foreign Money Center Banks Industry. Market cap of $51.99B. P/FCF ratio at 0.5. Shares shorted have increased from 3.16M to 5.05M over the last three months. Short float at 0.19%, which implies a short ratio of 2 days. The stock has lost -14.13% over the last year.

14. Humana Inc. (HUM): Health Care Plans Industry. Market cap of $9.6B. P/FCF ratio at 4.09. Shares shorted have increased from 3.02M to 4.27M over the last three months. Short float at 2.56%, which implies a short ratio of 2.41 days. The stock has gained 18.58% over the last year.

15. American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. (AEL): Life Insurance Industry. Market cap of $781.35M. P/FCF ratio at 2.03. Shares shorted have increased from 4.72M to 5.83M over the last three months. Short float at 10.46%, which implies a short ratio of 9.96 days. The stock has gained 70.33% over the last year.

16. Boyd Gaming Corp. (BYD): Resorts & Casinos Industry. Market cap of $1.B. P/FCF ratio at 4.09. Shares shorted have increased from 17.12M to 18.16M over the last three months. Short float at 32.98%, which implies a short ratio of 6.68 days. The stock has gained 32.42% over the last year.

17. Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (CLD): Industrial Metals & Minerals Industry. Market cap of $721.84M. P/FCF ratio at 2.95. Shares shorted have increased from 3.22M to 3.98M over the last three months. Short float at 12.82%, which implies a short ratio of 3.9 days. The stock has gained 39.99% over the last year.

18. HSBC Holdings plc (HBC): Foreign Money Center Banks Industry. Market cap of $188.43B. P/FCF ratio at 3.8. Shares shorted have increased from 4.16M to 4.86M over the last three months. Short float at 0.11%, which implies a short ratio of 1.75 days. The stock has lost -7.55% over the last year.

19. PharMerica Corporation (PMC): Drug Stores Industry. Market cap of $362.27M. P/FCF ratio at 4.76. Shares shorted have increased from 1.83M to 2.52M over the last three months. Short float at 8.7%, which implies a short ratio of 8.63 days. The stock has lost -28.22% over the last year.

20. Protective Life Corp. (PL): Life Insurance Industry. Market cap of $2.47B. P/FCF ratio at 2.5. Shares shorted have increased from 2.68M to 3.36M over the last three months. Short float at 3.93%, which implies a short ratio of 5.58 days. The stock has gained 65.88% over the last year.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.