First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) Short Interest Down 36.8% in July

Key Points

• Short interest fell 36.8% to 46,994 shares as of July 31, representing 0.2% of FEM’s outstanding shares and just 0.5 days to cover.
• Several institutional investors increased or initiated positions in FEM, including Smartleaf Asset Management, Signature Equity Partners, Geneos Wealth Management, Parallel Advisors, and MidFirst Bank.
• FEM traded at $32.39, within its $25.85–$35.61 52-week range, while the fund increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1899, equivalent to an annualized yield of approximately 2.3%.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM - ) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 46,994 shares, a drop of 36.8% from the July 15th total of 74,415 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 102,780 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FEM. Signature Equity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 371.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 26.8% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,930 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund in the first quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Stock Performance

FEM stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.39. 86,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,652. The company has a market cap of $777.36 million, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.61. First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund has a 52-week low of $25.85 and a 52-week high of $35.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $31.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.44.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.1899 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX EM index. The fund tracks an index of emerging markets companies selected using a quantitative methodology and weighted in tiers. FEM was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.

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