Short Interest in First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (NASDAQ:QCLN) Grows By 80.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in QCLN rose 80.3% to 185,471 shares as of August 14, up from 102,888 shares on July 30. About 1.5% of shares are sold short, representing roughly one day of average trading volume.
• Several major institutions increased their holdings, led by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, which expanded its position by more than 14,000% to 2.84 million shares. UBS, Wells Fargo, LPL Financial, and Royal Bank of Canada also added shares.
• QCLN shares fell $1.66 to $48.89, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $53.49 and $54.15, respectively. The fund tracks U.S. publicly traded clean-energy companies involved in areas such as solar, biofuels, and advanced batteries.

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (NASDAQ:QCLN - ) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 185,471 shares, a growth of 80.3% from the July 30th total of 102,888 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 194,866 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QCLN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund by 14,156.1% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,843,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,823,157 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 292,986 shares of the company's stock worth $13,065,000 after acquiring an additional 85,902 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund by 137.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 270,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,045,000 after purchasing an additional 156,142 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 250,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,181,000 after purchasing an additional 54,286 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 179,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64,165 shares during the period.

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QCLN traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.89. 151,057 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 172,033. First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund has a 52 week low of $36.69 and a 52 week high of $69.20. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $53.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.15. The company has a market cap of $586.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.64.

About First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (the Fund), formerly First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index (the Index) (formerly NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index). The Index is an equity index designed to track the performance of clean energy companies that are publicly traded in the United States, and includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, development, distribution and installation of clean-energy technologies, including, but not limited to, solar photovoltaics, biofuels and advanced batteries.

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