First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) Stock Short Interest Falls 73.5%

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FTDS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,653 shares, a decline of 73.5% from the August 31st total of 10,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,584 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Dividend Strength ETF

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in First Trust Dividend Strength ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FTDS opened at $62.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.26. First Trust Dividend Strength ETF has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $67.24.

First Trust Dividend Strength ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be issued a $0.3094 dividend. This is an increase from First Trust Dividend Strength ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1928. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%.

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.