iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (NYSEARCA:EZA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (NYSEARCA:EZA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 492,775 shares, a growth of 225.1% from the May 14th total of 151,561 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 221,243 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

iShares MSCI South Africa ETF Trading Up 4.9%

EZA stock traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.28. 152,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,932. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.55. iShares MSCI South Africa ETF has a one year low of $51.26 and a one year high of $81.75. The company has a market cap of $709.20 million, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares MSCI South Africa ETF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in iShares MSCI South Africa ETF by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 883,389 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $56,625,000 after acquiring an additional 147,200 shares during the period. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI South Africa ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $6,578,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI South Africa ETF during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,138,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Africa ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $908,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Africa ETF during the 3rd quarter worth about $631,000.

About iShares MSCI South Africa ETF

iShares MSCI South Africa ETF, formerly iShares MSCI South Africa Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the South African market, as measured by the MSCI South Africa Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the South African equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization.