First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) Stock Short Interest Report for October

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 30th, there was short interest totaling 18,650 shares, a growth of 91.9% from the October 15th total of 9,720 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,030 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Dividend Strength ETF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of First Trust Dividend Strength ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $304,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF during the third quarter worth about $247,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF during the second quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Price Performance

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.73. First Trust Dividend Strength ETF has a 1 year low of $53.77 and a 1 year high of $67.65. The company has a market capitalization of $40.62 million, a P/E ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.81.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th were paid a $0.3094 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 24th. This is an increase from First Trust Dividend Strength ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1928.

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.