Short Interest in Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE:USA) Declines By 78.3%

Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE:USA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 48,700 shares, a decrease of 78.3% from the March 15th total of 224,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 30,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Liberty All-Star Equity Fund Stock Down 0.8 %

USA stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 885,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,323. Liberty All-Star Equity Fund has a fifty-two week low of $5.62 and a fifty-two week high of $7.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $6.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.41.

Liberty All-Star Equity Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Liberty All-Star Equity Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edmund J. Burke purchased 4,000 shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.09 per share, for a total transaction of $28,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $46,085. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of USA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,130 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 8,586 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.95% of the company's stock.

Liberty All-Star Equity Fund Company Profile

Liberty All Star Equity Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by ALPS Advisers, Inc The fund is co-managed by Aristotle Capital Management, LLC, Pzena Investment Management, LLC, Delaware Investments Fund Advisers, Sustainable Growth Advisers, LP, and TCW Investment Management Company.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.