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.

Stockhead’s two preferred metrics are raw short interest as well as percentage changes in them within the last month.

 

The most shorted

After weeks of Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) and Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) being the most shorted stocks both are now only the third and fourth most shorted respectively.

Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) tops the list with 215.7m in shorted shares. This company’s project is in production and exporting lithium and tantalum.

Next most shorted is Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX). The company’s share price has nearly halved since its half yearly, which it admitted was disappointing with a $17.5m after-tax loss.

Last time Stockhead ran this column we reported shorters had increased their interest in oil stocks due to the oil price crash. Many targets remained on the list this fortnight including Otto Energy (ASX:OEL) and Senex Energy (ASX:SXY).

Code Name Price (I) Short Interest (Shares) Short Interest 1 Month % Change Market Cap
PLS PILBARA MINERALS LTD 0.14 215.71M 11.09 366.91M
MYX MAYNE PHARMA GROUP LTD 0.22 126.24M 36.99 402.98M
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES LTD 0.77 79.77M -1.52 364.44M
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES LTD 0.19 71.87M 2.49 95.35M
MYR MYER HOLDINGS LTD 0.1 67.95M 10.69 78.02M
NCZ NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LTD 0.06 64.44M 19.07 48.48M
SXY SENEX ENERGY LTD 0.14 60.50M 0.69 233.07M
INR IONEER LTD 0.08 56.48M 4.34 154.55M
CVN CARNARVON PETROLEUM LTD 0.12 55.34M 5.1 234.66M
NEA NEARMAP LTD 0.89 47.76M -3.31 459.24M
CLQ CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS LTD 0.11 39.81M -0.65 85.84M
PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD 0.04 36.29M 72.72 81.12M
MLX METALS X LTD 0.05 35.68M 10.96 48.99M
GEM G8 EDUCATION LTD 0.51 34.49M 88.42 308.32M
SWM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LTD 0.07 34.35M -6.94 123.04M
JMS JUPITER MINES LTD 0.22 33.64M 6.19 479.95M
SDA SPEEDCAST INTERNATIONAL LTD 0.79 31.72M 1.78 189.40M
BUD BUDDY TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.01 31.27M 68.47 21.44M
FAR FAR LTD 0.01 30.87M 1.72 119.75M
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD LTD 0.32 30.18M 48.1 191.72M
PGH PACT GROUP HOLDINGS LTD 1.29 25.90M 78.63 488.47M
BUB BUBS AUSTRALIA LTD 0.53 25.69M -1.83 313.77M
GRR GRANGE RESOURCES LTD 0.16 20.62M 8.69 190.96M
OEL OTTO ENERGY LTD 0.01 19.92M 111 24.60M
AJM ALTURA MINING LTD 0.03 19.64M -20.3 85.87M
WAF WEST AFRICAN RESOURCES LTD 0.4 19.51M -3.83 383.01M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.38 18.91M 62.83 229.49M
Z1P ZIP CO LTD 1.17 18.91M 120.69 495.79M
EWC ENERGY WORLD CORP LTD 0.05 18.65M 1.53 93.37M
OML OOH!MEDIA LTD 0.84 17.97M 161.51 203.60M
IFN INFIGEN ENERGY 0.4 17.12M -4.28 418.53M
SLC SUPERLOOP LTD 0.49 16.40M 32.36 204.89M
IPD IMPEDIMED LTD 0.05 16.11M 19.88 24.53M
LNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS LTD 0.1 15.53M 3.62 57.09M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.09 15.40M 414.08 168.92M
VAH VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LT 0.06 14.52M 2968.83 464.49M
AMA AMA GROUP LTD 0.19 14.34M 19.25 160.93M
SPL STARPHARMA HOLDINGS LTD 0.7 13.73M -2.41 290.60M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.22 13.59M 544.46 205.39M
HT1 HT&E LTD 1.03 12.83M -3.24 294.24M
PET PHOSLOCK ENVIRONMENTAL TECHN 0.32 12.43M 7.37 197.75M
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.07 11.77M -0.78 68.09M
DCN DACIAN GOLD LTD 1.40 11.38M -0.36 319.80M
WSA WESTERN AREAS LTD 1.66 11.20M 34.09 476.32M
LVT LIVETILES LTD 0.13 10.69M 5.77 121.80M
SXL SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP L 0.17 10.28M 77.15 188.41M
CGB CANN GLOBAL LTD 0.006 10.22M 35.37 22.83M
EHE ESTIA HEALTH LTD 0.95 10.14M 76.34 285.89M
JHC JAPARA HEALTHCARE LTD 0.43 9.46M 113.68 130.95M
ECX ECLIPX GROUP LTD 0.45 9.21M -17.51 159.82M
MYL MYANMAR METALS LTD 0.03 8.89M 631.47 61.90M
ALG ARDENT LEISURE GROUP LTD 0.14 8.81M -39.53 93.54M
EMR EMERALD RESOURCES NL 0.03 8.46M 68.92 159.90M
CLH COLLECTION HOUSE LTD 1.09 8.11M 0 154.01M
PNR PANTORO LTD 0.07 7.70M 155.1 97.60M
FBR FBR LTD 0.01 7.48M -1.15 24.69M
REG REGIS HEALTHCARE LTD 0.76 7.21M 129.93 261.65M
AVZ AVZ MINERALS LTD 0.05 7.05M 54.98 110.88M
WBE WHITEBARK ENERGY LTD 0.003 6.43M 0 12.10M
EHL EMECO HOLDINGS LTD 0.62 6.23M -28.49 287.47M
KGN KOGAN.COM LTD 4.1 6.07M -2.88 432.28M
ARU ARAFURA RESOURCES LTD 0.05 6.02M 26.87 56.96M
MRM MMA OFFSHORE LTD 0.06 5.84M -79.34 57.40M
AGY ARGOSY MINERALS LTD 0.03 5.54M 33.18 32.62M
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The newly shorted

There are more stocks with less than $5m in short interest against them on the list this week, including travel companies such as Helloworld Travel (ASX:HLO), Apollo Tourism & Leisure (ASX:ATL) and Virgin Australia (ASX:VAH).

We also noticed companies in the middle of major deals such as Cardinal Resources (ASX:CDV), which got takeover offer last week, and Ellex Medical Lasers (ASX:ELX), which received a takeover offer for most (but not all) of its assets from European optometry play Lumibird.

Also, deal rainmakers Moelis (ASX:MOE) and Euroz (ASX:EZL) were shorted too.

While the mandatory shutdown of businesses in the hospitality space was only just announced, companies like Gage Roads Brewing (ASX:GRB) and Redcape Hotel Group (ASX:RDC) have been on short sellers’ lists for the past month.

Code Name Price (I) Short Interest (Shares) Short Interest 1 Month % Change Market Cap
TTM TITAN MINERALS LTD 0.03 1.45M 145,258,800 29.74M
GPR GEOPACIFIC RESOURCES LTD 0.25 500.00k 49,999,900 47.12M
ATL APOLLO TOURISM & LEISURE LTD 0.08 107.57k 10,756,500 20.48M
CDV CARDINAL RESOURCES LTD 0.3 2.76M 727,016.88 147.51M
AAR ANGLO AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES 0.08 17.33k 86,555 41.79M
DTL DATA#3 LTD 2.66 29.33k 86,173.53 446.53M
HCH HOT CHILI LTD 0.01 3.17M 50,795.48 19.00M
HLO HELLOWORLD TRAVEL LTD 0.84 16.30k 36,945.45 107.88M
AQX ALICE QUEEN LTD 0.02 2.00M 36,773.16 17.70M
IGL IVE GROUP LTD 0.41 334.99k 30,106.67 84.48M
PGL PROSPA GROUP LTD 0.57 6.28k 24,042.31 101.65M
ISD ISENTIA GROUP LTD 0.13 501.81k 17,732.66 29.00M
RDC REDCAPE HOTEL GROUP 0.44 500.16k 17,321.11 242.97M
EZL EUROZ LTD 0.67 55.22k 14,946.05 121.08M
OCL OBJECTIVE CORPORATION LTD 4.29 2.97k 14,735 426.70M
ZNO ZOONO GROUP LTD 1.29 2.25M 11,862.17 231.90M
LYL LYCOPODIUM LTD 3.96 94.16k 10,361.67 168.86M
FLN FREELANCER LTD 0.28 112.72k 6945.25 129.04M
GMR GOLDEN RIM RESOURCES LTD 0 151.93k 6815.48 4.65M
TER TERRACOM LTD 0.19 2.50M 6714.25 115.22M
MMI METRO MINING LTD 0.09 173.32k 4005.19 131.95M
TBR TRIBUNE RESOURCES LTD 4.51 12.13k 3564.05 254.76M
PAC PACIFIC CURRENT GROUP LTD 3.7 436 3533.33 212.26M
CAJ CAPITOL HEALTH LTD 0.17 62.68k 3496.1 158.94M
OMH OM HOLDINGS LTD 0.25 185.12k 3375.85 184.66M
MOE MOELIS AUSTRALIA LTD 1.5 67.33k 3047.78 294.73M
VAH VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LT 0.06 14.52M 2968.83 464.49M
ELX ELLEX MEDICAL LASERS LTD 0.49 120.99k 2752.86 74.67M
TPW TEMPLE & WEBSTER GROUP LTD 1.75 1.86M 2379.48 232.52M
PWH PWR HOLDINGS LTD 2.6 667.81k 1646.64 291.26M
CXL CALIX LTD 0.6 67.22k 1528.39 98.00M
MNS MAGNIS ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES L 0.05 724.62k 1380.66 36.63M
GRB GAGE ROADS BREWING CO 0.04 34.00k 1326.17 49.04M
IME IMEXHS LTD 0.02 2.06M 1239.61 23.51M
PPC PEET LTD 0.65 14.99k 1109.11 335.89M
FWD FLEETWOOD CORP LTD 1.23 9.87k 1106.6 122.99M
ADT ADRIATIC METALS PLC-CDI 0.82 63.30k 979.95 157.37M
ACF ACROW FORMWORK AND CONSTRUCT 0.15 578.32k 973.52 39.13M
AVL AUSTRALIAN VANADIUM LTD 0.01 999.00k 962.61 22.98M
SGH SLATER & GORDON LTD 0.82 754 947.22 113.51M
URF US MASTERS RESIDENTIAL PROPE 0.22 163.25k 878.05 110.51M
EVS ENVIROSUITE LTD 0.08 2.71M 804.44 83.50M
88E 88 ENERGY LTD 0.01 161.25k 735.58 99.53M
MYE MASTERMYNE GROUP LTD 0.53 59.94k 728.83 57.28M
OPY OPENPAY GROUP LTD 0.35 119.59k 671.37 40.33M
NEU NEUREN PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 1.11 315 668.29 114.52M
RBL REDBUBBLE LTD 0.47 1.04M 667.37 128.68M
GGG GREENLAND MINERALS LTD 0.07 970.00k 651.8 94.09M
MYL MYANMAR METALS LTD 0.03 8.89M 631.47 61.90M
MCR MINCOR RESOURCES NL 0.41 334.34k 631.39 162.60M
BLK BLACKHAM RESOURCES LTD 0.01 2.81M 621.34 47.07M
TTT TITOMIC LTD 0.54 387.97k 609.51 94.57M
TLX TELIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.76 896.97k 600.66 220.50M
LPD LEPIDICO LTD 0.01 532.56k 572.82 37.07M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.22 13.59M 544.46 205.39M
AEF AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL INVT LTD 2.08 6.36k 432.94 260.74M
IMM IMMUTEP LTD 0.27 123.72k 427.67 111.61M
BBN BABY BUNTING GROUP LTD 1.55 1.50M 415.01 210.48M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.09 15.40M 414.08 168.92M
CAN CANN GROUP LTD 0.63 50.68k 406.79 96.13M
VRL VILLAGE ROADSHOW LTD 0.97 381.83k 381.38 261.57M
CPH CRESO PHARMA LTD 0.04 491.52k 379.48 9.97M
BSX BLACKSTONE MINERALS LTD 0.09 47.80k 356.93 16.74M
SWK SWICK MINING SERVICES LTD 0.13 45.07k 345.16 39.64M
FRI FINBAR GROUP LTD 0.6 3.33k 338.42 193.21M
GTN GTN LTD 0.44 785 324.32 99.30M
MVP MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS INTERNA 3.91 271.49k 323.48 275.55M
PRN PERENTI GLOBAL LTD 0.55 3.72M 268.46 464.00M
SMR STANMORE COAL LTD 0.75 173.83k 261.89 199.75M
MNF MNF GROUP LTD 3.53 121.18k 244.63 324.35M
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