Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (NYSE:JOF) Short Interest Update

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (NYSE:JOF) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,900 shares, a growth of 59.8% from the January 31st total of 11,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 58,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saba Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund by 222.0% in the 4th quarter. Saba Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,034,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,932,000 after purchasing an additional 713,033 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund in the third quarter worth about $1,351,000. Matisse Capital lifted its holdings in Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 362,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,777,000 after buying an additional 98,192 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $724,000. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund by 225.3% during the 4th quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 101,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 70,521 shares during the period.

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE JOF traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $7.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,774. Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund has a 52-week low of $6.89 and a 52-week high of $8.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.82.

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were paid a $0.3118 dividend. This is a positive change from Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund’s previous annual dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a yield of 3.3%.

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund Company Profile

Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by Nomura Asset Management U.SA Inc It is managed by Nomura Asset Management Co, Ltd. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Japan. It invests in stocks traded on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges, JASDAQ, Mothers, Hercules, Centrex, and other indices.