Liberty All-Star Growth Fund (NYSE:ASG) Short Interest Up 47.5% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 47.5% in March to 104,440 shares (about 0.2% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover ratio of just 0.3 days, signaling a notable increase in bearish bets despite low covering time.
• Shares traded down to $4.63 on heavy volume, sitting below both the 50-day ($5.10) and 200-day ($5.32) moving averages and inside a 52-week range of $4.01–$5.69.
• The fund paid a quarterly dividend of $0.12 (annualized $0.48), implying a 10.4% yield, while institutional investors hold about 21.62% of the stock and several increased their positions recently.

Liberty All-Star Growth Fund (NYSE:ASG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 104,440 shares, a growth of 47.5% from the February 26th total of 70,828 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 319,337 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company's stock are short sold.

Liberty All-Star Growth Fund Stock Performance

Shares of Liberty All-Star Growth Fund stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.63. The stock had a trading volume of 371,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,945. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.32. Liberty All-Star Growth Fund has a 52 week low of $4.01 and a 52 week high of $5.69.

Liberty All-Star Growth Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.4%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty All-Star Growth Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASG. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Liberty All-Star Growth Fund during the fourth quarter worth $72,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty All-Star Growth Fund in the second quarter valued at $55,000. 1607 Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Growth Fund by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. 1607 Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,300,216 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $6,891,000 after acquiring an additional 211,617 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Growth Fund by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 55,850 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 12,003 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Liberty All-Star Growth Fund by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,160 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 65,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.62% of the company's stock.

About Liberty All-Star Growth Fund

Liberty All-Star Growth Fund NYSE: ASG is a closed-end, diversified management investment company that seeks long-term capital appreciation through exposure to growth-oriented equities. The fund primarily invests in a portfolio of underlying mutual funds and exchange-traded funds managed by established sub-advisers, employing a multi-manager structure designed to capture opportunities across a range of market capitalizations and industry sectors.

Under normal market conditions, ASG allocates the majority of its assets to common stocks of companies it believes exhibit above-average growth potential.

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