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

Key Points

• Short interest fell 68.2% to 16,133 shares as of September 15, equivalent to 0.3% of outstanding shares and just 0.3 days to cover.
• Several institutional investors increased their FEMS holdings, including Baird Financial Group, which boosted its position by 68.4% during the second quarter.
• FEMS shares rose 0.3% to $44.77, while the fund announced a lower quarterly dividend of $0.3986 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.6%.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS - ) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 16,133 shares, a drop of 68.2% from the August 31st total of 50,737 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 48,643 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arax Advisory Partners increased its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 130,988 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $5,514,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 4.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 81,963 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 3,817 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 6.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 74,175 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $3,379,000 after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 1.1% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 69,100 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $3,148,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 68.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 68,862 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 27,974 shares during the period.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FEMS traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,069. The firm has a market cap of $219.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.06. First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $40.94 and a 1-year high of $49.49.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.3986 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th. This is a negative change from First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4450. This represents a $1.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

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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