Short Interest in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO) Drops By 63.8%

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,500 shares, a drop of 63.8% from the March 31st total of 40,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 24,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFO. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund during the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund during the fourth quarter valued at about $113,000. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund in the first quarter worth about $129,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 12.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFO traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $8.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,500. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.09. Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund has a one year low of $8.15 and a one year high of $9.54.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0512 per share. This is a boost from Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund's previous -- dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a yield of 7%.

About Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating in the financial services sector.