If you have a high tolerance for risk, then you might want to consider adding some small cap exposure to your portfolio.

But which small cap ASX shares should you buy? Listed below are two that brokers rates very highly. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

FINEOS Corporation Holdings PLC (ASX: FCL)

The first small cap ASX share to look at is Fineos. It is a provider of core systems for life, accident, and health insurance carriers globally.

The company currently has a sizeable 7 of the 10 largest group life and health carriers in the US, as well as a 70% market share of group insurance in Australia. It clearly means business!

Goldman Sachs is a big fan of the company and is very positive on its outlook. It recently commented:

Recent industry data points and commentary suggest that demand conditions are normalizing into 2023, with easing wage pressures increasing confidence in FCL’s cash break-even trajectory (we now see upside to consensus earnings across FY23-25E). Separately, FCL’s closest US comp Duck Creek was taken out for ~2-3x FCL’s trading multiple, providing valuation support for the sector.

Goldman has a buy rating and $1.95 price target on its shares.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Another small cap ASX share to watch is Volpara. It is a provider of software that uses artificial intelligence imaging algorithms to assist with the early detection of breast and lung cancer.

Volpara has been growing its top line at a rapid rate in recent years thanks to market share gains and its expanding average revenue per user (ARPU) metric.

Morgans appears to believe that this can continue, particularly given favourably regulatory developments. It said:

After a long wait, the FDA finalised federal legislation for mammography centers to report breast density to patients. This is positive for VHT’s FDA cleared AI volumetric density software. VHT also announced a further contract win with Sutter Health for their Risk Pathways product, with an additional TCV of US$900k over 3 years. This expands their existing relationship with Sutter. […] We view both of these announcements as incrementally positive for the company. We see VHT at a critical turning point in the company’s trajectory to profitability with improving investor sentiment.

Morgans recently reiterated its add rating and $1.21 price target on its shares.

The post Brokers say these small cap ASX shares are buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How to make passive income for life with just $5 a day
• Why Aeris, Block, Fineos, and Tyro shares are racing higher
• 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares I’m watching like a hawk in March
• Bargain buys? 3 ASX All Ords shares trading at 52-week lows right now
• Why Arafura, Myer, Volpara, and Xero shares are zooming higher

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Volpara Health Technologies. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Volpara Health Technologies. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended FINEOS Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Australian share market is home to countless ASX shares that pay dividends every six months.

This makes it a great place to generate a regular and growing passive income.

But which ASX shares could you invest $20,000 into now in order to generate $1,000 of passive income?

Generating $1,000 of passive income with ASX shares

If you have $20,000 to invest, then you’re going to need a 5% dividend yield to generate $1,000 of passive income.

One ASX share that is highly rated and is expected to provide investors with this level of yield is Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO). In fact, you’ll get more bang for your buck than necessary with this mining giant’s shares according to Goldman Sachs.

Its analysts are forecasting fully franked dividends per share of US$5.33 in FY 2023 and then US$5.98 in FY 2024. Based on the current exchange rates and the most recent Rio Tinto share price of $115.20, this equates to yields of 6.9% and 7.8%, respectively.

This means a $20,000 investment in the miner’s shares would yield passive income of $1,380 this year and then $1,560 next year.

Goldman also sees plenty of upside for the Rio Tinto share price with its buy rating and $140.40 price target.

Another option for investors to consider for passive income is the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY).

Rather than picking one share to buy, this ETF allows you to invest in a diverse collection of ASX shares that pay larger than average dividends in one fell swoop. This includes Rio Tinto.

At present, the ETF is trading with an estimated forward dividend yield of 5.4%. This would mean that a $20,000 investment generates passive income of $1,080 over the next 12 months.

The post Want $1,000 of passive income? Check out these ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Goldman Sachs says these ASX dividend shares with 7%+ yields are buys
• 3 ASX dividend ETFs to make nice income
• Invested $7,000 in Rio Tinto shares 5 years ago? Here’s how much passive income you’ve earned
• Market beating returns and big yields: 2 ASX ETFs to buy next week
• Buy this ASX ETF for retirement income

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is climbing 1.19% in late trading on Wednesday, but these three ASX mining shares are soaring far higher.

Shares in Globe Metals & Mining Ltd (ASX: GBE), Cobre Ltd (ASX: CBE), and Walkabout Resources Ltd (ASX: WKT) are all outperforming the index today.

Let’s take a look at what these three companies announced to the market.

Globe Metals & Mining

Globe Metals and Mining shares are surging 13% today to 9.5 cents. However, in earlier trade, the company’s share price rocketed nearly 31% to 11 cents. In today’s news, Globe revealed it has entered a mining and development agreement with the Malawi government to develop the Kanyika Niobium Project. Globe described this development as a “significant milestone in Globe’s history”. Chair Alice Wong said:

With this ultimate approval and final agreement in place, all parties concerned can now focus their efforts and resources on making the Kanyika Project the first niobium mine in Africa and Globe the first new niobium producer in over 50 years.

Cobre

Cobre shares soared nearly 24% today, hitting an intraday high of 13.5 cents a share. The company’s share price has since settled at 12 cents, up 14.3%. Cobre is exploring metals including copper and silver in Botswana and Western Australia.

Today, the company advised of a ‘Change of Director’s Interest’ indirectly involving director Martin Holland. Holland International Pty Ltd has acquired 700,000 new shares at a value of $71,225.73. Yesterday, Cobra announced soil sampling and preparation for aircore drilling is underway at the company’s Kitlanya West Project in Botswana.

Walkabout Resources

Walkabout Resources shares are up 4.55% in late afternoon trading to 11.5 cents apiece. That’s after the company’s share price lifted 18% to 13 cents a share earlier today. Walkabout announced today it has signed a term sheet for an up to US$25 million senior debt facility to complete construction of the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine in Tanzania.

Commenting on the news, CEO Andrew Cunningham said:

It is pleasing to know that the Lindi Jumbo Project will be funded through to production.

The post 3 ASX mining shares rocketing over 18% on big news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Want $1,000 of passive income? Check out these ASX shares
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• 4 ASX 300 directors buying up their company shares in the past week
• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Jervois Global, Megaport, and NAB are dropping today
• Why ALS, Centaurus Metals, Pilbara Minerals, and Westgold shares are rising today

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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It’s been a bouncy, but overall positive day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far today. This Tuesday initially saw the ASX 200 dip into red territory, but the latest inflation data seems to have given investors a second wind. At the time of writing, the Index has risen by 0.17% to back over 7,040 points.

So let’s now delve deeper into this tentative rise by having a look at the ASX 200 shares that are topping the share market’s trading volume charts right now, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Wednesday

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

First up this Wednesday is the ASX 200 lithium share Sayona Mining. This session has had a notable 26.9 million Sayona shares find a new home at this point. There hasn’t been any fresh news out of Sayona today. So this volume is probably a byproduct of the movements of the company’s shares themselves today.

Indeed, Sayona has had a bit of a wild session. This lithium stock is currently flat at 20 cents a share but was as high as 22 cents earlier today (up 5% at the time). No wonder so many shares have been flying around.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)

Another ASX 200 lithium miner in Liontown is next up this Wednesday. So far during today’s trading, a hefty 30.3 million Liontown shares have been delivered to a new address. It’s all been quiet on the Liontown news front as well today, but investors seem to still be in a good mood following yesterday’s takeover news.

After rocketing nearly 70% during Tuesday’s session, Liontown shares are up another 0.19% today to $2.58 a share. These factors are probably why we are seeing so many shares trading.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Finally today we have yet another ASX 200 lithium stock in Pilbara Minerals. This Wednesday has seen a chunky 33.94 million Pilbara shares bought and sold at this point of trading. We have seen some news out of Pilbara today.

As my Fool colleague broke down this morning, Pilbara announced that it has approved a new capital investment for its P1000 Project. The company hopes this investment will allow it to increase lithium spodumene by 320,000 tonnes per annum. Perhaps in response, Pilbara shares have risen by a healthy 286% today to $3.96 each. These two actors are the likely cause of this elevated volume.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why ALS, Centaurus Metals, Pilbara Minerals, and Westgold shares are rising today
• Which ASX lithium shares could be at risk of a short attack?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 turns green on softer-than-expected inflation data
• 2 ASX 200 stocks smashing new 52-week highs on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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When it comes to investing in ASX 300 shares, investors like to know the people actually running the companies are investing too. If insiders, directors, and CEOs are buying their own companies’ shares, it gives investors confidence that they have skin in the game, and that their interests are aligned with those of shareholders.

Conversely, investors don’t like to see insiders selling shares, for the opposite reasons.

So today, let’s discuss four ASX 300 shares that have seen some insider buying over the past week.

4 ASX 300 shares that insiders are buying right now

Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)

First up is Mayne Pharma. This ASX 300 pharmaceuticals share has seen its own chair, Frank Condella Jr, pick up shares in Mayne Pharma over the past week.

An ASX notice tells us that Condella bought two tranches of Mayne shares on 24 and 27 March. Condella owned 37,777 shares prior to last week, but he now owns 58,775 shares. Mayne Pharma shares remain down 11% in 2023 to date.

Siteminder Ltd (ASX: SDR)

ASX 300 tech share Siteminder is next up for consideration. It seems something was in the water late last week because non-executive director Les Szekely was also buying up his own company’s shares.

ASX data reveals that Szekely picked up another 50,000 shares in an on-market trade for $3 each on 23 March. That increases the director’s holdings in Siteminder from 15.38 million to 15.43 million shares. Siteminder shares are up nearly 6% in 2023 so far.

Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS)

ASX 300 share and IGA operator Metcash is our next share to check out.  According to a notice to shareholders, Metcash non-executive director Christine Holman has increased her shareholding by 25,000 shares to a new total of 55,000 shares.

Holman made this latest on-market acquisition on 24 March, for an average purchase price of $3.78 per share. The Metcash share price has risen by 1.16% over the year so far.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

Finally, let’s take a glance at ASX 300 retailing stalwart Harvey Norman. And this time, it’s the CEO and co-founder Gerry Harvey that we get to discuss. Harvey’s latest buy occurred on 22 March and was indirect in nature, with the shares going to a trust owned by the CEO. It was for an additional 267,000 shares.

As my Fool colleague Brooke comprehensively covered this morning, Harvey has been on a massive buying spree of his own company of late. He has bought around 1.5 million shares over the past week or so, and now holds approximately 421 million shares, worth roughly $1.5 billion.

 

The post 4 ASX 300 directors buying up their company shares in the past week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why has Gerry Harvey bought up $76m of Harvey Norman shares in 2023?
• ‘Attractive numbers’: Expert names ASX dividend share to buy right now
• How I’d invest $20k in ASX 200 shares to earn a second income of $140 a month
• Goldman Sachs says these ASX dividend shares with 7%+ yields are buys
• 8 ASX All Ords shares trading ex-dividend this week

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman and SiteMinder. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Metcash. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a small gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.15% to 7,043.8 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN)

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank share price is down 2.5% to $8.54. Investors have been selling this regional bank’s shares following the release of a broker note out of UBS. Its analysts have downgraded the bank’s shares to a sell rating and slashed their price target to $8.00. It expects rising funding costs, higher than expected bad debts, and intense competition for deposits to weigh on its performance.

Jervois Global Ltd (ASX: JRV)

The Jervois Global share price has crashed 40% to 6.9 cents. This has been driven by news that the company has suspended the construction of its cobalt operation in the United States. Management made the move in response to low cobalt prices and inflationary pressures. The company has already spent US$130 million on its construction. It aims to resume work once prices recover.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

The Megaport share price is down 5% to $4.00. This means the network services provider’s shares have given back all of yesterday’s gains and some more. Although it named its new CEO on Tuesday, it also revealed the exit of its CFO with immediate effect. Investors may be concerned that all is not well behind the scenes at Megaport. Its previous CEO quit abruptly earlier this month.

National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)

The NAB share price is down 2% to $27.11. This also appears to have been driven by a broker note out of UBS. Its analysts have become bearish on NAB for the same reasons and have downgraded its shares to a sell rating. They have also slashed their price target by $8 to $25.00.

The post Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Jervois Global, Megaport, and NAB are dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why did this ASX All Ords mining share just crash 30%?
• If I buy NAB shares today, what could my returns be in a year’s time?
• Megaport share price jumps on CEO news
• Is right now a once-in-a-decade opportunity to buy ASX 200 bank shares?
• Investing in ASX 200 banks for dividends? Read this

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bendigo And Adelaide Bank. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Megaport. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.15% to 7,045.3 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are rising:

ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ)

The ALS share price is up almost 5% to $12.09. Investors have been buying this testing services company’s shares after it released a trading update. ALS advised that it has continued to successfully execute its strategic growth agenda, delivering strong growth. So much so, it has upgraded its FY 2023 underlying net profit after tax guidance range to between $312 million and $322 million. Its previous guidance was $300 million to $320 million.

Centaurus Metals Limited (ASX: CTM)

The Centaurus Metals share price is up 5.5% to 95 cents. This morning, this nickel explorer announced outstanding high-grade results from stepout drilling at its Jaguar operation. Management believes these results reinforce the world-class nature of the Jaguar Deposit, supporting its expectations for further resource growth.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price is up almost 3% to $3.96. Investors have been buying this lithium miner’s shares after it announced that its board has approved the capital investment for the P1000 Project. This will ultimately see the Pilgangoora Project increase its spodumene production capacity by 320,000 tonnes to 1 million dry metric tonnes (dmt) per annum.

Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX)

The Westgold share price is up 4% to $1.25. This follows the release of an update on the gold miner’s Big Bell mine. According to the release, Westgold’s drilling has identified high grade potential beyond current pre-feasibility study limits.

The post Why ALS, Centaurus Metals, Pilbara Minerals, and Westgold shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Is the lithium price now on the way back up?
• Broker says buy Pilbara Minerals shares now for 44% upside
• Pilbara Minerals share price races higher on ‘important milestone’
• Why the outlook for these ASX 200 lithium shares could be ‘very favourable’
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price is sliding on Wednesday. It comes as Aussie investors get the chance to react to the United States launch of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) offering overnight.

The Zip share price is currently trading at 52.5 cents – a 0.94% fall on its previous close.

For comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.17% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, shares in Afterpay owner Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) are gaining 0.06%.

That’s a far better performance than industry peer Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AFRM) put on overnight. Its share price plunged 7% while that of Apple dipped 0.4%.

So, what exactly went down in the BNPL arena last night? Let’s take a look.

Apple launches Pay Later in US

The Zip share price is in the red today amid the launch of Apple Pay Later in the world’s biggest economy.

Right now, a pre-release version of the BNPL product has been made available to select users, with plans to roll the product out to all eligible users in place.

The BNPL offering will work a lot like those we already know. Purchases can be split into four payments and spread over six weeks, with no interest or fees charged.

Users can apply to receive loans of between US$50 and US$1,000. They can then use Apple Pay Later to pay for online and in-app purchases with any merchant that accepts Apple Pay.

The BNPL product is enabled through the Mastercard Instillments program. Goldman Sachs is the issuer of the Mastercard payment credential used to complete purchases.  

Zip share price snapshot

The Zip share price has continued to tumble in 2023.

The stock is currently down 5% year to date. It’s also fallen 66% since this time last year.

Comparatively, the All Ords has risen 1% since the start of the year and has fallen 7% over the last 12 months.

The post Zip share price dips amid Apple’s BNPL US launch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week
• Why is the Zip share price soaring 7% today?
• Why New Hope, Pilbara Minerals, Westpac, and Zip shares are pushing higher
• Here are the 10 most shorted ASX shares this week
• ‘Very strong platform to accelerate’: Has the Zip share price been oversold?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Affirm, Apple, Block, Goldman Sachs Group, Mastercard, and Zip Co. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2025 $370 calls on Mastercard, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2025 $380 calls on Mastercard, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple and Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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There are three ASX lithium shares among the top 10 ASX shares with the biggest short positions today.

To clarify, short selling is where professional traders try to profit from a fall in the share price. They borrow the shares and sell them with the intention of buying them back later, when they fall, to make a profit.

As my Fool colleague James reports, these three ASX lithium shares are likely shorted due to high valuations and highly volatile lithium prices, which have fallen dramatically since November 2022.

And the outlook for lithium prices is very mixed.

But falling lithium prices are a problem for every lithium start-up and producer, so that’s not a unique concern for these three particular ASX lithium shares.

Another common theme is they’re not producing any lithium yet, or they’ve only just started.

In other words, they’re young players among ASX lithium shares.

That means they’re riskier than the established producers in terms of valuation.

Totus Capital portfolio manager Ben McGarry says this is why many funds, including his own, are short-selling several ASX lithium shares today.

McGarry says (courtesy smh.com.au):

So from an outsider’s or short seller’s point of view, you’re looking at a company that has got no real business and is priced as if everything is going to work out best for the long term.

Which ASX lithium shares are the most shorted?

The three ASX lithium shares in the top 10 most shorted stocks are as follows.

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares have a short interest of 10%, up from 1.7% this time last year. This is the greatest level of short interest among the three ASX lithium shares in the top 10.

The company’s share price has fallen by 32% over the past 12 months to 87 cents at the time of writing.

Core Lithium is a small-cap ASX lithium share with a market capitalisation of $1.63 billion.

The company sent its first shipment of lithium to China in January. This was Core Lithium’s first revenue event.

In its 1H FY23 results released this month, the company reported a $9.2 million loss for the period.

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has a short interest of 8.7%, up from, 1.1% this time last year.

At the close of trade on Monday, the Liontown share price was down 20% over the previous 12 months at $1.52. But everything changed yesterday on news of a takeover bid by US lithium giant, Albemarle (NYSE: ALB).

Liontown shares are now trading at $2.60, up 1.2% today, after an astonishing 68.5% surge yesterday. This took its market valuation to $5.65 billion.

First production at Liontown’s flagship Kathleen Valley project is slated for mid-2024.

In its 1H FY23 results released this month, the company reported a $6.9 million loss for the period.

Lithium and graphite producer Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) also has 8.7% of its shares shorted, up from 0.9% this time last year.

The Sayona share price has fallen by 12% over the past year. It’s trading at 21 cents at the time of writing today.

Sayona is also a small-cap ASX lithium share with a $1.82 billion market cap.

The miner produced its first saleable commercial-grade spodumene lithium concentrate at its North American project just this month.

In its 1H FY23 results released this month, the company reported an $18.7 million loss for the period.

Why do the share prices fluctuate so much?

The prices of younger ASX lithium shares are more prone to major fluctuations as both traders and investors take a punt on how the future will pan out for these small and currently non-profitable players.

If you get the bet right, there could be big rewards. That’s the draw. So, this element of speculation can push share prices northwards.

And lithium prices going gangbusters in 2021 and 2020 added to it.

Those massive commodity price gains, which were prompted by the rapidly increasing global uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), got the market very excited, providing buying momentum for ASX lithium shares.

This pushed many of them into the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). That means they are automatically bought by the index funds, which gave them more support and pushed their valuations further.

So, their valuations went up based on speculation and momentum, not necessarily business fundamentals.

You see, all three ASX lithium shares listed above are non-profitable, yet they’re among Australia’s biggest 200 companies by market capitalisation.

Doesn’t sound quite right, does it?

This sort of thing gets short sellers into a bit of a lather because they see an opportunity to profit from the market’s exuberance and mispricing.

Which ASX lithium shares are the least short-sold?

There is far less short selling among the established ASX lithium shares.

Matthew Frydman, a senior research analyst specialising in metals and mining at MST Financial, says there are four “globally significant” lithium producers on the ASX 200.

They are Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN), IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), and Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE).

According to figures from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), these four companies have very little capital shorted at 1.15%, 1.8%, 4.1%, and 1.9% respectively.

The post Which ASX lithium shares could be at risk of a short attack? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 2 ASX 200 stocks smashing new 52-week highs on Wednesday
• Is the lithium price now on the way back up?
• Broker says buy Pilbara Minerals shares now for 44% upside
• Takeover offer ‘reasonable but not full’: Broker says Liontown shares are worth more

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in Allkem and Core Lithium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is on a roller coaster ride today.

IGO shares are currently down 0.08% and fetching $12.81. However, in earlier trade IGO shares lifted nearly 0.6% to $12.87. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.11% today.

Let’s take a look at what could be weighing on the IGO share price.

What’s happening?

IGO is a nickel, copper and cobalt explorer and is also invested in lithium via joint venture projects.

ASX lithium shares are having a mixed day on the market today, but multiple lithium explorers are rising.

For example, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are 3% in the green and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are up 1%. However, Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares are 1.44% in the red.

In today’s news, an IGO joint venture partner has released a drilling update.

St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) announced a “very wide interval of pegmatite” has been intersected in the first drill hole testing the ‘Manta’ seismic reflector.

This is located within exploration licence 29/638 within the Mt Alexander lithium project in Western Australia.

IGO has a 25% interest in E29/638 until there is a decision to mine, with St George holding the remaining 75%.

A continuous 120.8m interval of pegmatite from 631.2m to 752m downhole was intersected at diamond hole MAD213.

Broker UBS has recently maintained a “buy” rating on the IGO share price. However, analysts are predicting new lithium supply could double between 2022 and 2025.

IGO share price snapshot

The IGO share price has slid nearly 9% in the last year. However, in the past month, it has fallen by 1.2%.

IGO has a market capitalisation of about $9.7 billion based on the current share price

The post What’s with the IGO share price on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why the outlook for these ASX 200 lithium shares could be ‘very favourable’
• Investing in ASX 200 lithium shares? You’ll want to read this
• The Mincor Resources share price is skyrocketing 42%, what could be next for this ASX mining share?
• These ASX lithium shares are a buy despite explosive supply forecast: UBS
• What’s happening with the IGO share price on Thursday?

Motley Fool contributor Monica O’Shea has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://www.fool.com.au/2023/03/29/whats-with-the-igo-share-price-on-wednesday/