Camber Energy spikes 29% as retail traders target the heavily shorted name as the next meme stock

• Camber Energy stock jumped 29% Thursday amid retail-trader hype.
• The Houston, Texas-based oil and gas company is heavily shorted, according to Fintel.io data.
• The run-up in shares also comes as oil and gas prices have surged.

Camber Energy stock jumped as much as 29% Thursday as retail traders hyped up shares on social media while data pointed to a potential short-squeeze opportunity.

The Houston-based oil and gas company was trending among Twitch users on Thursday, according to TopStonks.com. Quiver Quantitative data showed the company was also the fifth most-mentioned stock on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit Wednesday with 91 mentions.

"CEI to Pluto," one Redditor said of the stock's ticker on r/WallStreetbetsELITE.

Meanwhile, data from Fintel.io shows short interest in Camber Energy stock rose four-fold to 24.4 million shares from 6.1 million shares in September, giving the company a 23.5% short interest as percent of float.

Retail traders mobilized on social media have been known for targeting companies with high short interest rates in the past. But now, data suggests retail traders have scared short sellers away from most mid-size companies.

Camber Energy, through its majority-owned subsidiary Viking Energy Group, owns a working interest in more than 145 oil and gas fields across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the company said on its site.

The rally in its shares comes as US oil and gas prices have reached multi-year highs amid supply-side issues. Camber did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Camber, along with Virgin Galactic, led gains among meme stocks Thursday, while other well-known memes like GameStop took a backseat.