First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 42.9% in October

Key Points

• FEMS short interest fell 42.9% to 6,548 shares as of October 15, down from 11,460 shares at the end of September. Short interest represents approximately 0.1% of shares outstanding, with a short-interest ratio of 0.4 days.
• Several institutional investors increased or initiated positions, including HBW Advisory Services, Royal Bank of Canada, Janney Montgomery Scott, Fifth Third Bancorp, and MCF Advisors.
• FEMS shares traded down to $39.78, near the fund’s 52-week low, while its quarterly dividend declined to $0.3986 per share from $0.4450, producing an annualized yield of about 4.0%.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS - ) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,548 shares, a decline of 42.9% from the September 30th total of 11,460 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,998 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 7.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,240 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 9,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 52,484 shares of the exchange traded fund's stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598 shares during the period.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

Shares of FEMS traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.78. The stock had a trading volume of 22,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,368. The company has a market cap of $194.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $45.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.82. First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $38.70 and a 1-year high of $49.49.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were issued a $0.3986 dividend. This represents a $1.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 24th. This is a negative change from First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4450.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.