First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) Short Interest Up 262.1% in August

Key Points

• Short interest surged 262.1% in August to 137,270 shares, representing about 0.6% of FEM’s outstanding shares and 1.9 days of average trading volume.
• FEM shares recently traded at $33.44, near the upper end of their 12-month range of $25.85 to $35.61; average moving averages were approximately $32.15 over 50 days and $31.82 over 200 days.
• The fund increased its quarterly dividend from $0.03 to $0.1899 per share, equivalent to an annualized payout of $0.76 and a 2.3% yield, while several major institutional investors expanded their holdings.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM - ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 137,270 shares, an increase of 262.1% from the August 15th total of 37,914 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 73,105 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

Shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.44. 171,340 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 128,446. First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $35.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $802.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.82.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,390,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,374,000 after acquiring an additional 39,545 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,375,536 shares of the company's stock worth $37,621,000 after purchasing an additional 122,038 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,303,530 shares of the company's stock worth $39,045,000 after purchasing an additional 255,989 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 2,581.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 758,297 shares of the company's stock worth $22,714,000 after purchasing an additional 730,017 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 641,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,382,000 after purchasing an additional 114,386 shares during the last quarter.

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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