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 (I) Short Interest (shares) Short Interest 1 Month Chg % Market Cap
MYR MYER HOLDINGS LTD 0.28 114.60M -0.85 225.85M
CVN CARNARVON PETROLEUM LTD 0.22 90.27M 66.76 344.16M
INR IONEER LTD 0.12 84.65M 51.94 201.59M
SXY SENEX ENERGY LTD 0.23 60.89M 9.98 335.16M
NCZ NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LTD 0.19 59.60M 7.42 153.59M
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES LTD 0.79 51.23M -15.65 317.35M
FAR FAR LTD 0.02 38.68M -0.09 159.66M
PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD 0.12 37.86M 5.12 233.21M
SWM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LTD 0.09 37.78M 3.5 132.27M
CLQ CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS LTD 0.19 37.68M -2.65 145.56M
AMA AMA GROUP LTD 0.63 37.36M 24.47 466.25M
MLX METALS X LTD 0.09 29.71M -11.19 85.28M
BUD BUDDY TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.01 25.34M -15.86 31.02M
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES LTD 0.29 24.96M -2.28 120.22M
SPL STARPHARMA HOLDINGS LTD 1.08 21.23M 32 409.82M
SLC SUPERLOOP LTD 1.06 20.25M 26.26 396.97M
IPD IMPEDIMED LTD 0.08 20.07M -18.04 80.14M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.57 19.67M -17.04 315.20M
EWC ENERGY WORLD CORP LTD 0.07 16.93M -2.73 120.31M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.2 16.68M 0.51 332.72M
ALG ARDENT LEISURE GROUP LTD 0.44 15.70M 16.69 215.87M
PET PHOSLOCK ENVIRONMENTAL TECHN 0.52 13.96M 76.28 315.84M
FXL FLEXIGROUP LTD 1.14 11.87M 42.81 447.63M
HT1 HT&E LTD 1.22 11.12M -8.65 331.61M
EHE ESTIA HEALTH LTD 1.5 10.54M -6.31 399.75M
HAS HASTINGS TECHNOLOGY METALS L 0.12 10.17M 52.85 118.96M
GRR GRANGE RESOURCES LTD 0.25 10.09M -41.9 283.55M
AVZ AVZ MINERALS LTD 0.06 9.97M -36.55 180.82M
ECX ECLIPX GROUP LTD 1.23 8.64M -13.22 386.76M
FBR FBR LTD 0.02 7.13M 0.37 39.56M
MRM MMA OFFSHORE LTD 0.08 6.56M 0 67.58M
LNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS LTD 0.04 6.29M -1.79 24.80M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.32 6.20M -44.04 284.04M
REG REGIS HEALTHCARE LTD 1.47 5.78M -16.5 437.59M
NVA NOVA MINERALS LTD 0.06 5.15M -6.78 59.41M
EHL EMECO HOLDINGS LTD 1.08 5.00M -58.12 405.41M
JHC JAPARA HEALTHCARE LTD 0.55 4.66M -31.47 148.32M
CE1 CALIMA ENERGY LTD 0 4.53M 0 10.78M
DCN DACIAN GOLD LTD 0.46 4.47M 5.76 241.98M
ZNO ZOONO GROUP LTD 2.18 4.30M -7.07 333.57M
WPP WPP AUNZ LTD 0.29 4.06M 95.7 242.86M
RVR RED RIVER RESOURCES LTD 0.06 3.76M -26.36 30.46M
ARU ARAFURA RESOURCES LTD 0.08 3.20M -29.21 81.23M
RDC REDCAPE HOTEL GROUP 0.79 3.12M 312.73 439.00M
RXL ROX RESOURCES LTD 0.03 3.00M 7449.83 36.45M
AJM ALTURA MINING LTD 0.04 2.98M -46.53 131.39M
BWX BWX LTD 3.77 2.93M 1.94 475.88M
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.05 2.77M -69.52 47.66M
BOE BOSS RESOURCES LTD 0.06 2.50M 400.03 106.36M
VRT VIRTUS HEALTH LTD 3.15 2.42M 8.4 254.03M
CLA CELSIUS RESOURCES LTD 0.01 2.40M 0 9.84M
LVT LIVETILES LTD 0.24 2.39M -23.58 216.53M
ADI APN INDUSTRIA REIT 2.45 2.17M 1748.82 494.08M
AGY ARGOSY MINERALS LTD 0.07 2.01M -41.04 66.27M
PNR PANTORO LTD 0.22 1.94M -32.02 246.95M
EVS ENVIROSUITE LTD 0.14 1.86M -30.13 138.33M
ISU ISELECT LTD 0.26 1.80M 7.37 59.36M
RIC RIDLEY CORP LTD 0.75 1.70M -1.77 234.90M
MVF MONASH IVF GROUP LTD 0.56 1.66M -73.07 220.14M
MNY MONEY3 CORP LTD 1.64 1.61M -3.35 313.13M
MEB MEDIBIO LTD 0.01 1.59M -7.45 7.96M
WGO WARREGO ENERGY LTD 0.16 1.58M 134.4 128.64M
IMU IMUGENE LTD 0.03 1.57M 1615.94 150.48M
BLX BEACON LIGHTING GROUP LTD 0.97 1.51M 11.84 209.19M
MOC MORTGAGE CHOICE LTD 0.8 1.49M 10.15 98.12M
IGL IVE GROUP LTD 1.13 1.49M 325.39 173.40M
CDD CARDNO LTD 0.3 1.37M -20.55 134.11M
MHJ MICHAEL HILL INTERNATIONAL L 0.34 1.32M 55.49 127.97M
SPT SPLITIT PAYMENTS LTD 0.46 1.32M 165 163.85M
LNU LINIUS TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.01 1.31M 0 18.34M
NCK NICK SCALI LTD 5.67 1.31M -2.26 453.60M
NGI NAVIGATOR GLOBAL INVESTMENTS 1.3 1.31M 128.38 211.60M
VHT VOLPARA HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES 1.42 1.29M -48.5 346.95M
OCC ORTHOCELL LTD 0.37 1.25M -1.99 66.49M
TPW TEMPLE & WEBSTER GROUP LTD 4.39 1.20M -44.81 496.79M
RAP RESAPP HEALTH LTD 0.17 1.20M 20.77 124.97M
AYS AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA LTD 0.33 1.18M -20.81 98.86M
AQZ ALLIANCE AVIATION SERVICES L 2.61 1.18M -48.01 337.80M
MYL MYANMAR METALS LTD 0.06 1.17M -39.08 95.50M
CDV CARDINAL RESOURCES LTD 0.41 1.13M -30.56 205.01M
PPS PRAEMIUM LTD 0.4 1.09M 22.61 159.37M
IMM IMMUTEP LTD 0.2 1.04M 1321.6 90.21M
MLD MACA LTD 0.94 1.02M 11.83 235.85M
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Despite stores reopening, retailer Myer (ASX:MYR) was once again the most shorted stock to the tune of over 100 million shares.

Other stocks appearing on the list despite either ramping up or preparing to ramp up operations again after COVID-19 closures included IVF provider Monash IVF (ASX:MVF), Moelis-backed pub operator Redcape Hotel Group (ASX:RDC) and theme park operator Ardent Leisure (ASX:ALG).

While some stocks claim to have benefited from COVID-19, this has not stopped them becoming shorters targets.

One example is fibre network operator Superloop (ASX:SLC) which said last month it had seen a spike in internet traffic with people working from home.

Although it expects to achieve the mid range of its guidance, it has $20m in short interest — a spike of 26 per cent in the last month.

While uranium prices are seeing a rise not witnessed in years it remains to be seen if this marks a return to uranium’s glory days in the mid-2000s.

Shorted ASX uranium plays include Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN) and Boss Resources’ (ASX:BOE).

 

Investors still targeting (some) oil stocks

The small cap with the second most shorted shares it is Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN), with 90.3 million.

The company has seen a big increase in recent weeks despite oil prices recovering from their brief plunge into negative territory.

The fall caused Carnarvon and its operating partner Santos (ASX:STO) to defer a planned seismic acquisition over their breakthrough Dorado oil discovery in the North West Shelf offshore Western Australia.

They said drilling would recommence in 2021 subject to improving economic conditions.

On the flip-side other oil stocks with heavy short interest levels saw a decrease in recent weeks, one being Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR).