Short Interest in First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (NASDAQ:FTXR) Expands By 147.4%

First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (NASDAQ:FTXR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 49,369 shares, an increase of 147.4% from the July 30th total of 19,954 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,446 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTXR. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF during the 1st quarter worth about $669,272,000. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF by 2.6% in the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 465,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,198,000 after buying an additional 11,794 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF by 31,579.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 383,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,596,000 after buying an additional 381,796 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF by 5,525.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 148,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,645,000 after buying an additional 145,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 132,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,131,000 after buying an additional 18,497 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF Price Performance

Shares of First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.86. 16,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,913. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.29. First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF has a 52 week low of $33.62 and a 52 week high of $46.17.

First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were paid a dividend of $0.1268 per share. This is an increase from First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th.

First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF Company Profile

The First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (FTXR) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Nasdaq US Smart Transportation index. The fund tracks an index composed of 30 US transportation companies. Holdings are selected by liquidity and weighted based on volatility, value and growth factors. FTXR was launched on Sep 20, 2016 and is managed by First Trust.