First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 126.8% in April to 6,730 shares (about 0.1% of shares), leaving a very low short-interest ratio of 0.2 days based on average daily volume.
• The fund traded at $47.47 (down 0.2%), with a market cap of $263.46 million, a P/E of 8.10, and a 52-week range of $36.42 to $49.28.
• FEMS recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.3033 (annualized $1.21, yield 2.6%), and several advisory firms modestly increased their holdings, including Integrated Wealth Concepts with 119,447 shares.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS - ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,730 shares, a growth of 126.8% from the March 31st total of 2,968 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 37,023 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ FEMS traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,740. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.31 and a 200 day moving average of $44.32. First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund has a twelve month low of $36.42 and a twelve month high of $49.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.46 million, a P/E ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.52.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 26th were issued a $0.3033 dividend. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,068 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,248 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 0.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 119,447 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $5,277,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 100.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,066 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 6.5% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 8,778 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period.

About First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (FEMS) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX EM Small Cap index. The fund aims to outperform other index funds by selecting small-cap emerging markets securities using quantitative metrics. FEMS was launched on Feb 15, 2012 and is managed by First Trust.

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