We can say that the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a reasonable 2021 so far as we approach the end of the year. Over 2021 to date, the ASX 200 has put on a reasonably healthy 11% or so thus far, including the 0.36% fall we’ve seen so far today (at the time of writing). But the Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price has been a noticeably more successful investment over the year so far.

This ASX 200 blue-chip share has enjoyed an unquestionably successful 2021 as of today. The Woolworths share price has gained 16.41% year to date, rising from $33.89 at the start of the year to the going price today of $40.41 a share (so far today).

Those figures take into account the Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) spinoff, but not the impact of Woolworths’ dividend payments. If we include the April interim dividend of 53 cents per share, and the October final dividend of 55 cents, these year-to-date returns hit roughly 20%.

So how has Woolies enjoyed such a successful, market-beating return? After all, it’s not often that a blue-chip share like Woolworths beats the ASX 200 by 11%.

WOW! Why have investors picked Woolworths shares in 2021?

So we can likely put Woolworths’ enviable performance down to a few factors. Firstly, its full-year results for FY2021 were arguably well received. Back in August, the company dropped its FY21 numbers. These included a 5.7% rise in group sales and a 22.9% rise in group net profit after tax to $1.97 billion.

But it also included the bump in Woolworths’ final dividend, which took the company’s total dividends for 2021 to $1.08 per share, an almost-15% increase over 2020’s payouts. It also included a $2 billion off-market share buyback program, allowing existing shareholders to sell back their shares to the company in exchange for some potentially hefty tax benefits.

This may have increased the appeal of Woolies shares for investors too.

Another factor that could have been at play is the Endeavour demerger that we touched on earlier. Endeavour was Woolworths’ pubs, bottle shops and liquor business. As my Fool colleague Mitchell covered at the time, ejecting the Endeavour assets from the company’s portfolio may have given Woolworths shares an ESG-driven boost.

Many ESG, or ethically-motivated, funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) exclude companies that make or market alcoholic beverages as part of their investing mandates. By offloading these assets into a separate company, Woolworths might have enjoyed an ESG-driven boost as well.

Whatever the reason for Woolworths’ stellar 2021 so far, it would have surely made many an investor happy.

At the current Woolworths share price, this ASX 200 blue chip has a market capitalisation of $48.9 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.68%.

The post The Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is up 20% so far in 2021. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why ASX 200 travel shares are getting hammered today
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Lithium miners jump, Flight Centre tumbles
• Are these 2 strong ASX 200 shares buy rated?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last 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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) travel shares are suffering this morning as uncertainty rises again due to COVID-19.

At the time of writing, this is the current state of play for some of the travel players:

The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price is down 3.3%

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is down 3%,

Next, the Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is down 2.2%.

The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is down 2.4%.

Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) shares are down 4.6%.

What’s going on with the ASX 200 travel shares?

It’s not just ASX travel shares that have been punished.

For example, Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: BKNG) has dropped more than 11% since 9 November 2021. The Ryanair Holdings plc (LON: RYA) share price is down 12% from 5 November 2021. The Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ: MAR) share price has dropped 8% since 8 November 2021.

There has been growing concern as COVID-19 cases grow quickly again in the northern hemisphere, particularly Europe, as it enters the coldest months of the year.

Some countries in Europe are seeing record COVID numbers and are re-introducing rules.

For example, Belgium has increased rules on face masks and most Belgians have to work from home. Austria has gone into a full lockdown for a maximum of 20 days, whilst making it a legal requirement to get vaccinated from 1 February 2022.

Germany has been seeing record infections. Health Minister Jens Spahn described the situation as a “national emergency” and reportedly refused to rule out another national lockdown.

The BBC has reported that the World Health Organization has said that it’s very worried about the spread of COVID-19 in Europe. Regional director Dr Hans Kluge warned that 500,000 more deaths could happen unless urgent action was taken. Mr Kluge said:

Covid-19 has become once again the number one cause of mortality in our region. we know what needs to be done.

What ASX 200 travel shares were hoping for

Corporate Travel recently said that its majority exposure was to regions with the most recovery, being North America and Europe. At the time of its AGM a month ago, Corporate Travel said that 83% of its group revenue was generated from North America and the EU. It specifically said the EU region was an outperformer due to the momentum of client wins and rapid re-opening.

Webjet said that the WebBeds business was profitable in July and August, and was on track to be profitable in September. It reported at the end of August that it was seeing strong demand as travel restrictions eased in North America and Europe, “suggesting significant upside as more international markets reopen.”

International borders may not close

Whilst ASX 200 travel shares are heading downwards, it may not necessarily mean that there’s less volume for travel businesses as there hasn’t been much talk of limiting travel or closing borders.

For example, the BBC reported that UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said there are no plans to change travel rules between the UK and Germany because of the rising cases there. He said this was because Germany was dealing with the Delta variant:

We have Delta here already, I’m not sure there is much benefit in having more rules, but we do keep an eye out for any potential new variants.

The post Here’s why ASX 200 travel shares are getting hammered today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is up 20% so far in 2021. Here’s why
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Lithium miners jump, Flight Centre tumbles
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Are these 2 strong ASX 200 shares buy rated?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Helloworld Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.35% to 7,370 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

AMP shares rise on update

The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price is rising today after the financial services company confirmed it will continue to manage its $7 billion office fund. According to the release, after hearing advice from an independent advisory committee, the trustee board of AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund (AWOF) decided AMP can keep hold of the fund.

Lithium miners jump

It has been a good start to the week for lithium miners such as Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS). Both lithium shares are outperforming today, potentially due to a bullish broker note out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). The broker has retained its equivalent of buy ratings on these shares due to the positive outlook for battery making ingredients.

Travel shares fall

The travel sector has been performing particularly poorly today. This appears to have been driven by rising COVID-19 cases in the US and Europe, which has led to some countries locking back down again. The likes of Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) are among the hardest hit on Monday.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC) share price with a 6.5% gain. This follows the announcement of a memorandum of understanding which secures the next phase of the nickel producer’s growth. The worst performer has been the Flight Centre share price with a 4.5% decline following weakness in the travel sector.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Lithium miners jump, Flight Centre tumbles appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is up 20% so far in 2021. Here’s why
• Here’s why ASX 200 travel shares are getting hammered today
• AMP (ASX:AMP) share price lifts as company retains control of office fund
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Are these 2 strong ASX 200 shares buy rated?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Orocobre Limited. 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 Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, Macquarie Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The PPK Group Limited (ASX: PPK) share price is looking ripe for the taking to one Australian fund manager.

In September, PPK shares became the focus of the market as one of its joint ventures, Li-S Energy Ltd (ASX: LIS), got set for its market debut. The listing of the lithium-sulphur battery tech company garnered an oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO). In turn, investors began to bid up the PPK Group share price in anticipation of a blockbuster Li-S Energy listing.

However, with PPK retaining ~45% ownership of the battery tech company, the euphoria has since gradually faded.

Despite this, the team at EGP Capital is still bullish on PPK Group. Let’s take a closer look at why this fund’s sentiment isn’t waning.

Why this fund sees value in ASX-listed PPK Group

After roughly a 33% retracement in the PPK Group share price since the end of August, EGP Capital’s weighting toward the company in its Concentrated Value Fund has fallen from 15% to 7.8%. Correspondingly, the diversified business has shifted from the fund’s largest holding to its third-largest holding.

It was a positive month of returns for the fund, outpacing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by 1.3%. Although, there were 2 companies that weighed on the fund’s monthly returns. One of these companies was ASX-listed PPK Group, falling nearly 15% throughout October.

Undeterred by PPK’s poor monthly performance, EGP Capital chief investment officer Tony Hansen outlined the fund’s stance on the billion-dollar business. In EGP’s October report, Hansen explained:

In simple terms, I think there was enormous interest in the LIS IPO and particularly large institutional money managers that wanted exposure to LIS realised that because the IPO was so oversubscribed, they would not get it by participating in the IPO.

What I suspect they then did was to buy PPK as a proxy for LIS (given it would own almost half of the business post listing). This buying then reversed after LIS listed as these institutions sold their PPK on market to purchase the LIS they really wanted to own.

The fund believes that such an approach, if true, demonstrates flawed thinking by these institutions. The reason for this is that ASX-listed PPK Group offers numerous opportunities outside of Li-S Energy. As such, EGP Capital considers PPK to be worth much more than Li-S Energy.

Another take

EGP Capital is not alone in liking what PPK Group has to offer. In an article published last month, we covered 4 ASX shares that chief investment officer and founder of Regal Investment Fund (ASX: RF1) Phil King likes in the battery and lithium space.

That list included PPK Group alongside other high-profile names in the industry. The fundie highlighted the significant research and development progress made by PPK and its subsidiary Li-S Energy.

Finally, despite the recent weakness, the PPK Group share price has returned 104.5% on the ASX since the beginning of the year.

The post Here’s why this fund manager thinks PPK (ASX:PPK) is a great buying opportunity appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) share price is still running low. What’s happening?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Silver Lake Resources Limited. (ASX: SLR) share price is in reverse on Monday morning. This comes despite the gold producer announcing an update on the acquisition of Harte Gold Corporations’ credit facilities.

At the time of writing, Silver Lakes shares are down 4.02% to $1.79. Regardless of the drop today, its shares are still up close to 15% in the past month.

What did Silver Lake update the ASX with?

Investors are sending the Silver Lake share price lower, following the company’s completed transaction. Not helping is the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has fallen 0.79% to 7,338 points.

In its release, Silver Lake advised it has secured the credit facilities provided by BNP Paribas (BNP) to Harte Gold.

Canadian-listed, Harte Gold is a mining company that owns and operates the Sugar Zone mine in Ontario, Canada. The site comes with an associated 81,287-hectare land package.

BNP is a French international banking group, the largest in Europe and seventh largest in the world by total assets.

Silver Lake acquired a $US41.3 million non-revolving term facility and a US$22 million revolving facility. Together, the US$63.3 million line of credit has an outstanding interest of $US2.3 million.

A forbearance agreement between Harte Gold and BNP was entered since 30 July 2021. The facilities are secured by a first lien on all the assets, property and undertaking of Harte Gold. The forbearance period is due to expire at the end of this month.

Harte Gold has committed various events of default under the credit agreement, including non-payment of certain principal and interest payments.

Silver Lake funded the transaction through the use of its existing cash reserves.

Silver Lake share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Silver Lake shares have fallen around 3% despite surging since late September. When looking at 2021 alone, its shares have flatlined for the period.

Silver Lake commands a market capitalisation of roughly $1.61 billion with approximately 885.40 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the Silver Lake (ASX:SLR) share price is slipping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Silver Lake (ASX:SLR) share price having such a stellar run of late?
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares in October
• Why has the Silver Lake (ASX:SLR) share price leapt 30% in a month?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price is in the green this morning after the financial services company confirmed it will keep hold of its $7 billion office fund.

After hearing advice from an independent advisory committee and legal and financial advisers, the trustee board of AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund (AWOF) decided the embattled company can keep the fund’s reins.

At the time of writing, the AMP share price is $1.155, 1.76% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s announcement from AMP.

AMP share price up on AWOF win

After a long battle, it has been decided that AMP will continue its management of AWOF, albeit upon implementing multiple changes.

Under the ruling, AMP must make changes to the fund’s governance, increase its manager alignment, and reduce its fee arrangements.

Despite the adjustments, the findings are a significant win for AMP Capital. Keeping AWOF on its books likely sees it in a stronger position ahead of its planned demerger of AMP Capital’s Private Markets.

AMP Capital has also committed to put up to $500 million of alignment capital towards supporting AWOF and its other real estate funds.

The trustee board’s finding could be a blow to GPT Group (ASX: GPT) and Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR). They were both vying for control of the top-performing office fund.

Both groups’ share prices are relatively flat today. GTP is 0.1% lower and Mirvac shares are unchanged from Friday’s closing price. However, they’re marginally better than the broader market. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently down 0.52%.

Right now, the AMP share price is just 0.85% lower than it was this time last month. However, it’s still 25% lower than it was at the start of 2021.

What did management say?

AMP Capital CEO Shawn Johnson commented on the trustee board’s findings, saying:

Our strong track record, as well as the recent $2.2 billion Pacific Fair and Macquarie Centre transaction – the largest of its type in Australian history – demonstrates our capability to continue delivering for our investors in real estate.

This decision recognises the commitment of our real estate team, who deliver every day for AWOF unitholders, and follows a comprehensive and detailed review against our peers.

The post AMP (ASX:AMP) share price lifts as company retains control of office fund appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is there still hope for the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price?
• AMP (ASX:AMP) share price higher after $40 million APRA enforcement
• Why AMP (ASX:AMP) shares might be in the spotlight next week
• Can AMP (ASX:AMP) maintain control of its $7 billion office fund?
• How to get more women trading ASX shares for a living

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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The week might be about to start off with a bang for Nimy Resources Limited (ASX: NIM) as the company prepares for its initial public offering (IPO).

The junior nickel explorer’s shares are set to float on the ASX at 12:30pm AEDT Monday. Under its prospectus, Nimy’s shares were going for 20 cents apiece.

Let’s take a look at the company that will soon be the newest nickel-focused ASX participant.

What does Nimy Resources do?

Nimy Resources is a nickel explorer with 100% ownership of the greenfield exploration project Mons Nickel.

The Mons Nickel Project is in Western Australia’s Yilgarn Craton. According to the company, the Yilgarn Craton makes up part of a tier-one mining jurisdiction with substantial nickel and gold resources.

The project has had minimal nickel exploration and Nimy Resources hopes modern exploration techniques will expose its potential. So far, Nimy has put together a database including aerial geophysical surveys, soil and rock chip samples, ground magnetics, and drilling results from previous exploration.

Additionally, the company completed the project’s maiden drill campaign in October 2020. Through the campaign, Nimy drilled 20 reverse circulation holes to a depth of around 200 metres. Of those, 16 intersected substantive widths of nickel mineralisation with mineralisation, in many instances, ongoing at end of hole.

Nimy Resources to hit the ASX

Nimy Resources raised around $6.4 million through its initial public offering (IPO).

That was within its expected range of between $6 million and $7.5 million.

To do so, it sold around 32 million Nimy shares for 20 cents apiece.

At the time of listing, the company will have around 114 million shares outstanding. Thus, the company has an expected market capitalisation of approximately $22.8 million.

Over the 2021 financial year, the company brought in $90,517 in revenue and recorded a pre-tax loss of $677,971. It ended the financial year with $972,664 of cash in the bank and $631,762 of total equity.

Nimy Resources hasn’t provided the market with earnings guidance going forward. It states that, due to the current status of its project and the nature of mineral exploration and development, its directors don’t believe it’s appropriate to forecast its future earnings.

It likely goes without saying, all eyes will be on Nimy Resources and its share price when it floats on the ASX this afternoon.

The post Nickel explorer Nimy Resources (ASX:NIM) lists on the ASX today. Here’s what you need to know appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What are Kogan (ASX:KGN) shares really worth? Here’s what Scott Phillips says
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) share price falls despite upbeat exploration update
• Fortescue’s push to axe diesel subsidies could cost ASX miners billions
• 5 ASX shares that could slump this week

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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has been under pressure in 2021.

Since the start of the year, the ecommerce company’s shares have lost 53% of their value. This has been driven largely by inventory issues after management failed to predict a slowdown in sales once bricks and mortar stores reopened.

This led to significant inventory issues, which weighed heavily on its margins and ultimately the Kogan share price.

Is the Kogan share price good value now?

Given the weakness in the Kogan share price this year, investors may be wondering if it is good value now.

To address this question, we asked Motley Fool’s Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips for his thoughts on valuing Kogan’s shares. Phillips said:

“Kogan, and other companies with fast growing sales, can be difficult beasts for investors to accurately value. The unknowns include the rate of annual growth, in the short-medium term, and for how long each company can continue to grow at those elevated rates, before they become mature companies and growth becomes more moderate. Obviously the longer, and stronger, that growth, the better.

The next consideration is the level of profitability a company can sustain, usually expressed as a percentage of sales. The higher the better, obviously. Here’s where it gets tricky. If you think Kogan can grow sales at, say 20% per annum for 5-10 years, before slowly falling to, say 5% per year over the decade thereafter, and can deliver a profit margin of close to 10% of sales, you have a much more valuable business than if growth falls to 5% p.a. within the next couple of years, and it can only bank 6% of that as profit.”

The difficulties of growth investing

Scott Phillips highlighted Kogan’s shares as an example of the inherent difficulties of growth investing.

“The challenge for investors is that even those two scenarios — and the range of potential outcomes is even wider — present very different valuation stories. That’s ‘growth investing’ for you — it’s impossible to be precisely accurate, so you’re aiming to be roughly right. And Kogan has one more wrinkle: some costs in the most recent results should be ‘one-offs’ if management is right, meaning the starting point is unusually low, and it’s best to adjust for those factors if you don’t think they’ll happen again in future.”

The bottom line

Overall, Phillips notes that whether or not the Kogan share price proves to be cheap will depend on which scenario unfolds. He concluded:

“Bottom line, though: If you think Kogan can deliver something closer to the first scenario, it’s probable that shares are cheap, today. If they can’t, and the future looks closer to the second, there may not be much valuation upside from here.”

The post What are Kogan (ASX:KGN) shares really worth? Here’s what Scott Phillips says appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why is the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price still dropping? Scott Phillips weighs in
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why are Kogan (ASX:KGN) shares being shorted in November?
• Finally, a good day for the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price. What’s happening?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer Scott Phillips owns shares in Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Once a week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues to be the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose to 12.3%. This high level of short interest appears to be due to valuation concerns and rising COVID cases in Europe.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest rise week on week again to 11.5%. Short sellers don’t appear to believe this ecommerce company’s performance is improving as quickly as hoped.
• Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) has short interest of 10.5%, which is up slightly week on week. Short sellers have been increasing their positions in this ecommerce company since the release of disappointing quarterly update.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 9.3%, which is up meaningfully week on week. Short sellers seem confident this online travel agent’s half year results this week will disappoint.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest rise to 9.2%. Reports of rising fraud in the BNPL industry and increasing competition could be weighing on investor sentiment.
• Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) has 8.9% of its shares held short, which is up week on week again. This defence and space company recently downgraded its earnings guidance.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has short interest of 8.7%, which is down week on week. This biotech company’s precarious financial position is likely to be weighing on sentiment.
• Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX: COE) has 8.5% of its shares held short, which is up week on week again. A disappointing performance from its Sole Gas operation appears to be behind this high level of short interest.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has 8.4% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. This appears to be due to concerns that this poultry producer could be negatively impacted by higher grain costs.
• BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) is back in the top ten with 7.1% of its shares held short. This appears to have been driven by weakness in iron ore prices.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Fortescue’s push to axe diesel subsidies could cost ASX miners billions
• Why all eyes will be on the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price next week
• 2 high yield ASX dividend shares named as buys
• Could the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price be a big dividend income opportunity?
• Why Magnis, Nanosonics, WiseTech, and Zip shares are dropping

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. owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) share price is falling on Monday morning.

At the time of writing, the gold miner’s shares are down 2% to $2.09.

Why is the Regis Resources share price falling?

The fall by the Regis Resources share price on Monday appears to have been driven by weakness in the gold price offsetting an upbeat exploration update from the Duketon Belt and Albany Fraser Belt (Tropicana).

In respect to its update, according to the release, recent drilling activities have delivered strong results at Duketon and Tropicana.

Highlights from Duketon include exceptionally high-grade intervals at Rosemont, thick, high-grade intersections at Ben Hur, and further strong mineralisation at Garden Well. Management notes that the latter demonstrate the potential for establishing a new underground resource and potentially an additional underground production area.

As for Tropicana, management revealed that strong results at Boston Shaker continue to demonstrate down-plunge growth potential up to 200 metres below the current resource envelope and promising regional drilling has identified the prospective Tropicana mine geological sequence in areas previously not recognised.

Management commentary

Regis Resources’ Managing Director, Jim Beyer, was pleased with the results from the company’s drilling campaign.

He commented: “Our investment in organic growth continues to return positive results at both Duketon and Tropicana. This supports our view that these operations will have mine lives well in excess of the current reserves.”

“Regional exploration continues to advance early stage projects, showing the potential for further discoveries in the belts. Drill testing of target areas is identifying strong vectors to economic mineralisation and increasing the geological understanding in new highly prospective but poorly explored areas,” he added.

The Regis Resources share price has been out of form this year. The company’s shares are down 45% from $3.76 since the start of the year.

The post Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) share price falls despite upbeat exploration update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
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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 Bruce Jackson.

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