First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) Short Interest Down 21.2% in August

Key Points

• Short interest in the First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) decreased by 21.2% in August, with a total of 16,400 shares shorted as of August 31st.
• Major institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in FEP, with Jones Financial Companies growing its stake by 199% in the first quarter.
• The fund announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9551 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 7.6%, a notable increase from its previous dividend of $0.11.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 16,400 shares, a decline of 21.2% from the August 15th total of 20,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 29,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 29,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FEP. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 9.3% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,234 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 48.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 1.4% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 46,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 2.8% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 25,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Stock Performance

Shares of FEP traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.40. The stock had a trading volume of 11,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,882. The firm has a market cap of $312.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.36 and a beta of 1.09. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund has a 12 month low of $33.02 and a 12 month high of $51.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.44 and a 200 day moving average of $45.88.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.9551 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $3.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. This is a boost from First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's payout ratio is -246.97%.

About First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (FEP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Europe index. The fund tracks a tiered equal-weighted index of 200 companies selected from the S&P Europe BMI based on the S&P's AlphaDex selection methodology. FEP was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.