Short & Caught is Stockhead’s fortnightly recap of which ASX small cap stocks are heavily shorted. Stocks that are shorted have investors betting that they fall.

Shorting works by selling stocks you do not actually own in the hope of buying them back at a lower price.

Because shorting is restricted under Australian law, any substantial shorting of stocks is worth knowing about even if you own these stocks and only trade long.

Code Name Price Short Interest (Shares) Market Cap
PLS PILBARA MINERALS LTD 0.2 212.77M 455.86M
MYR MYER HOLDINGS LTD 0.19 114.18M 156.04M
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES LTD 0.71 56.41M 296.87M
NCZ NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LTD 0.16 55.66M 132.84M
INR IONEER LTD 0.13 55.21M 209.99M
SXY SENEX ENERGY LTD 0.21 55.08M 306.02M
CVN CARNARVON PETROLEUM LTD 0.18 53.43M 297.23M
SXL SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP L 0.13 49.15M 319.04M
FAR FAR LTD 0.01 38.75M 139.70M
CLQ CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS LTD 0.21 38.54M 149.29M
SWM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LTD 0.08 36.92M 126.12M
PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD 0.12 36.03M 223.07M
MLX METALS X LTD 0.08 33.44M 74.40M
BUB BUBS AUSTRALIA LTD 0.87 30.24M 490.26M
BUD BUDDY TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.01 30.07M 23.83M
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD LTD 0.56 29.40M 378.54M
AMA AMA GROUP LTD 0.38 29.20M 281.63M
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES LTD 0.23 24.17M 97.42M
IPD IMPEDIMED LTD 0.04 24.08M 39.07M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.49 23.55M 284.79M
EWC ENERGY WORLD CORP LTD 0.07 17.41M 125.69M
GRR GRANGE RESOURCES LTD 0.22 17.37M 266.19M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.13 16.71M 230.34M
SPL STARPHARMA HOLDINGS LTD 1.06 16.08M 404.23M
SLC SUPERLOOP LTD 0.79 15.96M 287.21M
AVZ AVZ MINERALS LTD 0.06 15.72M 142.20M
ALG ARDENT LEISURE GROUP LTD 0.33 13.90M 165.50M
HT1 HT&E LTD 1.09 12.08M 307.83M
EHL EMECO HOLDINGS LTD 1.1 11.54M 412.78M
EHE ESTIA HEALTH LTD 1.39 11.20M 374.93M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.3 10.13M 262.20M
ECX ECLIPX GROUP LTD 0.66 9.59M 214.16M
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.05 9.16M 43.77M
FXL FLEXIGROUP LTD 0.85 8.98M 335.23M
PET PHOSLOCK ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY 0.5 7.72M 294.50M
VEN VINTAGE ENERGY LTD 0.05 7.40M 10.96M
FBR FBR LTD 0.03 7.04M 46.75M
HAS HASTINGS TECHNOLOGY METALS LTD 0.06 6.65M 57.93M
MRM MMA OFFSHORE LTD 0.08 6.56M 74.06M
REG REGIS HEALTHCARE LTD 1.5 6.50M 434.58M
LNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS LTD 0.04 6.37M 24.80M
JHC JAPARA HEALTHCARE LTD 0.5 6.21M 133.62M
AJM ALTURA MINING LTD 0.05 5.52M 137.37M
NVA NOVA MINERALS LTD 0.05 5.50M 48.19M
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A couple of stocks  rose up the list including Southern Cross Media (ASX:SXL) which has 49 million in short shares – up 259 per cent from a month ago; and Bubs Australia (ASX:BUB) which has 30.2 million – up 23 per cent from a month ago.

Southern Cross has had a horror 12 months falling 86 per cent and in recent weeks had to raise fresh capital. As a radio station owner it makes money through advertising revenues and it anticipates a drop of up to 30 per cent in the coming months.

Bubs, on the other hand, has told shareholders its infant formula has continued to sell well domestically and in China.

Retailer Myer (ASX:MYR) surpassed 100 million shares shorted as it prepares to reopen its stores after a 6 week shutdown.

Other targets included one of the larger gold explorers on the ASX, Aurelia Metals (ASX:AMI) and holiday park operator Ardent Leisure (ASX:ALG).

 

Shorters easing the pressure

Shorters have laid off graphite stock Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR). Syrah spent many months alongside Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) as having over $60 million in short interest.

Now Syrah has only 24 million shares and just makes the top 20. Galaxy remains higher with 56 million shorted shares but it has shed 22 per cent in the last month.

Stocks with exposure to oil prices have also witnessed easing of short interest against them.

For instance Brazilian focused Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR) shed 17 per cent while African focused Far (ASX:FAR) shed nearly 10 per cent.

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