First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 62.3% in September

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,110 shares, a drop of 62.3% from the August 31st total of 10,913 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,483 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ HISF traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $42.64. 19,685 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,971. First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF has a fifty-two week low of $42.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.69 and a 200 day moving average of $44.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.07 million, a PE ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.27.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.1840 per share. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is a positive change from First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.1820. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 701,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,118,000 after purchasing an additional 261,046 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 216.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 73,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,255,000 after buying an additional 50,238 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 129,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,861,000 after buying an additional 35,807 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF in the second quarter worth $1,186,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 72.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 26,452 shares in the last quarter. 51.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF

The First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (HISF) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund uses a fund-of-funds structure to primarily seek income across a broad range of fixed income securities of US and non-US issuers. HISF was launched on Aug 13, 2014 and is managed by First Trust.