First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) Stock Short Interest Climbs 175.3%

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 7,305 shares, a growth of 175.3% from the September 15th total of 2,653 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,001 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTDS traded down $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.92. 2,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,948. The stock has a market cap of $38.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.82. First Trust Dividend Strength ETF has a fifty-two week low of $53.43 and a fifty-two week high of $67.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.50.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were issued a $0.3094 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 24th. This is a positive change from First Trust Dividend Strength ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1928.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of First Trust Dividend Strength ETF by 8.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust Dividend Strength ETF during the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF in the second quarter valued at about $99,000.

About First Trust Dividend Strength ETF

The First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (FTDS) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the The Dividend Strength index. The fund tracks an index of approximately 50 US stocks or REITs considered to be well-capitalized and have a history of increasing their dividends. Holdings are selected based on fundamental criteria and equally-weighted within the portfolio. FTDS was launched on Dec 6, 2006 and is managed by First Trust.