Short Interest in First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FYT) Expands By 1,225.4%

Key Points

• Short interest in First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund jumped by 1,225.4% to 19,854 shares as of March 31, leaving a short-interest ratio of 0.9 days and about 0.8% of shares shorted.
• Several institutions increased positions—Blueprint Investment Partners boosted its stake to 176,201 shares (+44.4%), Jones Financial raised holdings by 442.5%, and Wells Fargo made a smaller add—indicating rising institutional interest despite the shorting activity.
• The fund recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.2014 (annualized $0.81, 1.3% yield) and traded down 0.7% to $63.98, with a market cap around $160 million and a P/E of ~10.9.

First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FYT - ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 19,854 shares, a growth of 1,225.4% from the March 15th total of 1,498 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 22,065 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FYT. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund by 44.4% during the third quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 176,201 shares of the company's stock worth $9,849,000 after buying an additional 54,166 shares in the last quarter. Blueprint Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund during the third quarter worth $9,849,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 183,000 shares of the company's stock worth $10,373,000 after buying an additional 2,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund by 442.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 14,724 shares of the company's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 12,010 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ FYT traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $63.98. 3,646 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,174. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.49 and a 200-day moving average of $58.76. First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund has a 52 week low of $43.31 and a 52 week high of $64.61. The stock has a market cap of $159.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.00.

First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.2014 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 26th. This represents a $0.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%.

About First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund (FYT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Value index. The fund tracks an index of securities pulled from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Index that are rescreened and weighted based on a tiered process. FYT was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.

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