If I were a retiree, there would be only a few ASX shares I’d be willing to rely heavily on for returns, including dividends. One of the top stocks I’d consider for the long-term is L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF).

This business is one of the larger listed investment companies (LICs) available to Australians. The job of a LIC is to invest in shares and other assets on behalf of shareholders. It’s operated by the fund managers and analysts at L1 Group Ltd (ASX: L1G).

When I think about what retirees may be searching for, or may benefit from, I think the ASX share can tick all of the boxes.

Compelling passive dividend income

The feature retirees may be after most is passive income. Dividends from ASX shares are a great option, in my view.

For me, it’s not just a question of how large the dividend yield is. I’d also want to see dividend reliability and payout growth as well.

L1 Long Short Fund has certainly ticked the box for income. It has increased its annual dividend per share every year since 2021, when it first started paying a dividend. The LIC changed to quarterly dividends in 2025, and it has grown its quarterly dividend every quarter since then.

The business has a stated goal of increasing its dividend for shareholders, which it’s clearly doing.

If the business continues to increase its dividend payout each quarter over the next 12 months, it would have a FY27 grossed-up dividend yield of 4.7%, including franking credits, at the time of writing. I think that would be a great starting dividend yield for retiree investors.

Pleasing diversification

Another aspect that retiree investors may really benefit from is the diversification that the LIC can provide.

It invests in both ASX shares and international shares, using long-term investing and short-selling strategies. Short selling is when you can generate profit if a share price goes down, so it’s a good way to protect against falling markets.

Given its investments across Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe and Asia, it can provide diversification for retiree portfolios that may be too focused on Australian assets (including property).

The LIC also tends to avoid investing in the tech sector or ASX bank shares, so it can generate returns in ways that differ from those of typical exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that focus on US or ASX shares. Its three most fruitful sector hunting grounds have been materials, industrials and communication services.

Strong portfolio returns is delivering capital growth

The portfolio strategy has been very effective, generating strong net returns. In the past five years, the LIC’s net return has been an average of 16.1% per year. Only some of this was used to pay dividends, with the rest of the investment returns retained within the business.

The increasing portfolio value has driven a rise in the share price. Over the past five years, the L1 Long Short Fund share price has risen 78% (at the time of writing).

Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns, but I’m optimistic it can continue to deliver pleasing long-term returns.

The post Why this top ASX share is a retiree’s dream for FY27 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in L1 Group and L1 Long Short Fund. 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.

The most shorted ASX shares tell investors which companies professional investors expect to suffer.

The latest short position reports from ASIC, covering the week to 1 September 2026, contain two names that have each had their respective issues.

One company is shorted because it is losing money.

The other is shorted because it made too much, too quickly.

The 10 most shorted ASX shares right now

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) sits at the top of the list with 15.37% of its register sold short.
Lotus Resources Ltd (ASX: LOT) follows at 15.04%, then 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) at 12.37%.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) is at 11.98% and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) at 11.74%.

The week-on-week movement is worth noting.

CAR Group Ltd (ASX: CAR) has dropped out of the top ten entirely, and Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) has taken its place.

DroneShield’s short interest actually rose, from the 14.9% recorded a week earlier, despite the shares already having fallen sharply.

DroneShield: Shorted because it lost money

DroneShield has become the most shorted stock on the market for reasons that become clearer when investors look at the company’s annual accounts.

First-half revenue rose 74% to $125.8 million, which is a strong number.

Underneath it, gross margin fell from 65.3% to 60.0%, underlying EBITDA swung to a $12.4 million loss, and the statutory result was a $32.2 million loss, compared with a $2.1 million profit a year earlier.

The company also has an ASIC investigation running into share trading and disclosures from November 2025.

The counter-argument is that the balance sheet is untouched.

DroneShield holds $180 million of cash with no debt and has reaffirmed FY 2026 revenue guidance of $250 million to $270 million.

The shares are down about 74% from their high, which is a lot of scepticism already in the price.

PLS Group: Shorted because it made too much

PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) is the opposite case entirely.

FY26 revenue rose 152% to $1.93 billion, underlying EBITDA reached $1.14 billion at a 59% margin, and the company swung from a $196 million loss to a $526 million profit.

The company resumed dividends with a fully-franked 5 cents per share.

Shares rocketed 30% in August alone and have roughly doubled over twelve months.

So why short it?

Because the result rests on a realised spodumene price of US$1,488 per tonne, more than double the prior year.

FY27 capital expenditure is guided at $620 million to $685 million, roughly double the prior year, which competes directly with the dividend just restored.

Lithium has always been a violently cyclical business, and bears are betting the cycle turns before the capital is spent.

Managing director Dale Henderson said of the results:

That financial strength gives us flexibility: we can continue investing in Pilgangoora, bring Ngungaju back into production, advance P2000 and Colina, and pay a fully franked final dividend of 5 cents per share.

Foolish takeaway

Short interest is a reading list, not a verdict.

Plenty of heavily shorted companies go on to perform perfectly well, and a crowded short position can unwind violently.

What I take from this particular table is that the most shorted ASX shares are not all the same bet.

For DroneShield, the question is profitability, and for PLS Group, it is the lithium price.

The post What are the most shorted ASX shares on the market right now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top 3 ASX defence shares to buy right now
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 reasons to buy DroneShield shares after their 74% decline
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• 9 ASX shares downgraded by experts post-results this week

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven 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 Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, DroneShield, and Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CAR Group Ltd, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, and Elders. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

If you have a high tolerance for risk and are seeking strong returns for your portfolio, then read on.

That’s because the team at Bell Potter believes the ASX stock in this article could rise over 85%.

Which ASX stock?

The stock that the broker is bullish on is Devex Resources Ltd (ASX: DEV).

It is a Perth-based uranium company focused on the Alligator Rivers Uranium Province (ARUP) on the north-western margin of the Northern Territory’s McArthur Basin. 

Bell Potter notes that the ASX stock has consolidated a district-scale land position with over 50km of highly prospective fault corridors which host existing uranium discoveries. 

The broker has been pleased with recent exploration progress and believes there’s more to come. It said:

One month in, the program has delivered encouraging results. At the KP Prospect (2km radon anomaly), DEV hit a 10m-wide fault breccia above the unconformity, geochemically similar to the geology overlying the likes of Jabiluka. Big Radon Prospect (3km radiometric and bedrock alteration anomaly) drilling has identified a 20m wide fault zone and down hole gamma reporting 1.6m at 680ppm eU3O8 in chlorite altered schist with further assays pending. 

At Sandfire, drilling will test for the position of the Angularli Fault Zone along strike from Deep Yellow’s 32.9Mlb U3O8 deposit. DEV continues to work-up prospects by relogging historic drill core and analysis of recently consolidated datasets. A recent airborne hyperspectral survey of DEV’s granted tenements will add further data granularity. The historic Caramal deposit (6.5Mlbs at 0.31% U3O8) provides an important geological analogue.

Big potential returns

According to the note, Bell Potter has put a speculative buy rating and 41 cents price target on the ASX stock.

Based on its current share price of 22 cents, this implies potential upside of just over 85% for investors over the next 12 months.

Commenting on its buy thesis, the broker said:

The key value catalysts for DEV include uranium market fundamentals, exploration results and M&A-led growth. We have a positive medium- to long-term outlook for the uranium market, supported by barriers to new supply and demand growth linked to electrification, energy security and AI-related power requirements. 

DEV has embarked on a systematic exploration program across a district-scale consolidated landholding in a historical but underexplored uranium province analogous to Canada’s Athabasca Basin, a region supplying around one quarter of the world’s uranium needs. We expect DEV to be disciplined in further consolidating uranium assets in support of its ambitious growth targets. At 30 June 2026, DEV had cash of $27m.

The post Guess which ASX stock could rise 85% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Why this top ASX share is a retiree’s dream for FY27
• What are the most shorted ASX shares on the market right now?
• How many ANZ shares do you need for $8000 of passive income?
• How much is needed in superannuation for $3,000 in weekly passive 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 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.