Short Interest in Special Opportunities Fund, Inc. (NYSE:SPE) Drops By 42.2%

Special Opportunities Fund, Inc. (NYSE:SPE) saw a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,371 shares, a drop of 42.2% from the May 31st total of 12,762 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 41,864 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Special Opportunities Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Special Opportunities Fund by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 107,016 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in Special Opportunities Fund by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 40,010 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Special Opportunities Fund by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,001 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Special Opportunities Fund by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 31,197 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in Special Opportunities Fund by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 19,770 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,539 shares during the period. 35.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Special Opportunities Fund Trading Up 0.3%

SPE stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.52. 20,180 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,273. Special Opportunities Fund has a 52 week low of $13.14 and a 52 week high of $15.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.39.

Special Opportunities Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.1087 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th.

About Special Opportunities Fund

Special Opportunities Fund (NYSE: SPE) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to deliver attractive total return by investing across corporate capital structures. The fund primarily allocates capital to debt and equity securities of both public and private issuers, with a focus on special situations, distressed credits and event-driven opportunities.

The fund’s flexible, multi-asset strategy allows portfolio managers to shift allocations among high-yield bonds, leveraged loans, convertible securities, preferred stock and equity positions.