First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) Short Interest Update

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 46,994 shares, a drop of 36.8% from the July 15th total of 74,415 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 102,780 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $32.58. The company had a trading volume of 54,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,149. First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $35.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.46. The firm has a market cap of $781.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.61.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.1899 dividend. This is a positive change from First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 371.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 64.0% during the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 26.8% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund during the first quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000.

About First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX EM index. The fund tracks an index of emerging markets companies selected using a quantitative methodology and weighted in tiers. FEM was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.