ASBH Shorts Hold Firm as Borrow Costs Climb

ASBH is a small, tightly held community lender where one fact dominates the picture right now: more than a quarter of the free float is short, the borrow market is almost completely seized up, and it costs roughly 38% annualised to maintain that position.

The lending setup is the most striking element on the tape. Availability has collapsed to just 3.4% — meaning for every 30 shares already out on loan, barely one remains available to borrow. Utilisation is effectively full at ~100%, and the pool of lendable shares has shrunk to around 4,500 units. That extreme tightness is reflected in the cost to borrow, which has crept up from 30.8% in early August to nearly 38% this week — a roughly 23% rise in carrying cost over six weeks, even as the short position itself has held flat at 27.3% of the free float. Shorts are paying more to hold a position that has not moved in months.

The structural reason for this squeeze is visible in the ownership register. Patriot National Bancorp filed a Schedule 13D in mid-2024 disclosing a 64.4% stake in ASBH — a controlling position that effectively locks up the majority of shares outstanding. With total shares outstanding of only 980,580 and a free float of roughly 490,000, the absolute size of the short book is modest at around 134,000 shares. But relative to the tiny float, 27.3% is a high-conviction bear camp. Stakes are as-last-disclosed around the 5% threshold, and Patriot could have moved without re-filing, so the register warrants monitoring.

The ORTEX short score backs up the bearish lean. It currently reads 74 out of 100 — in the upper quartile of bearish positioning across the universe — driven by the elevated SI, tightening availability, and rising borrow costs. The fundamental score is a more constructive 63, underpinned by stable asset quality and modest earnings consistency, while the technical score trails badly at 30. Q2 results released in August showed net interest income of $2.1M, flat quarter-on-quarter, with management flagging ongoing deposit competition and margin uncertainty tied to Fed rate policy. The stock closed at $17.00, and no analyst coverage is active on the name.

What to watch: whether borrow costs continue rising toward — or above — their recent intraday highs (the max quoted rate is currently 49%), which would test short holders' willingness to maintain conviction, and any fresh filing from Patriot National Bancorp that signals movement on the longer-term structural options for the ASBH listing.