First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NASDAQ:KNGZ) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NASDAQ:KNGZ) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 26,573 shares, an increase of 53.4% from the July 30th total of 17,321 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,839 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF by 2.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its position in shares of First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 28,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 13,590 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 52,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 8,132 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 458,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,416,000 after acquiring an additional 54,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:KNGZ traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $42.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,147. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.44. The stock has a market cap of $65.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.87. First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $43.01.

First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.3057 per share. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 25th.

About First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF

The First Trust S&P 500 Diversified Dividend Aristocrats ETF (KNGZ) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in large cap equity. The fund tracks a sector-neutral US large-cap index selected and weighted based on dividend history and yield. KNGZ was launched on Jun 20, 2017 and is issued by First Trust.