First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 75,237 shares, a drop of 41.5% from the April 30th total of 128,517 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 71,731 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of FCT opened at $9.58 on Tuesday. First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II has a 12 month low of $9.40 and a 12 month high of $10.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.69 and its 200-day moving average is $9.80.

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.097 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Genesis Financial Group LLC increased its stake in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 3.6% in the first quarter. Genesis Financial Group LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 3.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 65,666 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 20.7% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 53,039 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. grew its position in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 349,329 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 653,730 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,583,000 after acquiring an additional 18,952 shares during the last quarter.

About First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE: FCT) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide current income with preservation of capital. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the fund pursues its objective by investing primarily in senior floating rate loans and other floating rate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. companies. As a closed-end vehicle, FCT issues a fixed number of common shares and may utilize leverage to enhance returns for shareholders.

Under normal market conditions, FCT allocates at least 80% of its managed assets to senior floating rate loans, which are typically secured obligations of corporate borrowers.