First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) Short Interest Up 119.3% in July

Key Points

• Short interest in the First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund increased by 119.3% in July, raising total short shares to 32,900 from 15,000.
• The fund recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9551 per share, significantly up from the previous dividend of $0.11, giving it a 7.9% dividend yield.
• Institutional investors have been actively increasing their stakes in the fund, with entities like Atria Investments and Assetmark Inc. boosting their holdings during the second quarter.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 32,900 shares, anincreaseof119.3% from the June 30th total of 15,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 30,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 30,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:FEP traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $49.39. The company had a trading volume of 14,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,047. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund has a 12-month low of $33.02 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.83 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $47.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.39.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a dividend of $0.9551 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This is a positive change from First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $3.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund's payout ratio is currently -246.97%.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FEP. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 199.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $116,000. Finally, BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000.

About First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (FEP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Europe index. The fund tracks a tiered equal-weighted index of 200 companies selected from the S&P Europe BMI based on the S&P's AlphaDex selection methodology. FEP was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.