First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund (NASDAQ:QABA) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in QABA rose 48.7% to 25,526 shares as of August 14, representing 1.9% of shares outstanding and a days-to-cover ratio of 2.0.
• Several institutional investors established or expanded positions, including Gamco Investors, Jane Street, Goldman Sachs, and UBS; UBS held the largest reported position at 164,070 shares.
• QABA shares fell 1.1% to $66.25, while the fund increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3497 per share, implying an annualized payout of $1.40 and a 2.1% yield.

First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund (NASDAQ:QABA - ) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 25,526 shares, an increase of 48.7% from the July 30th total of 17,162 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,081 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in QABA. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $364,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,176,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 40,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 164,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,213,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period.

First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ QABA traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $66.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,672. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.24 and a 200 day moving average of $63.50. First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund has a twelve month low of $51.90 and a twelve month high of $70.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.44 million, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.75.

First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.3497 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th. This is a positive change from First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund Company Profile

The First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund (QABA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank index. The fund tracks an index of NASDAQ-listed banks and thrifts, excluding the 50 largest. QABA was launched on Jun 29, 2009 and is managed by First Trust.

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