Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Inc. (NYSE:EMD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Inc. (NYSE:EMD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 157,229 shares, a growth of 69.1% from the March 31st total of 92,990 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 225,958 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EMD. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund by 1.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 92,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund by 5.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 3,595 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund by 1.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 355,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,578,000 after buying an additional 4,273 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund by 5.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 359,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,612,000 after buying an additional 18,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund by 6.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 433,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,362,000 after buying an additional 24,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.05% of the company’s stock.

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE EMD opened at $10.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.50 and a 200-day moving average of $10.63. Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund has a 1-year low of $9.27 and a 1-year high of $11.30.

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.6%.

About Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund Inc (NYSE: EMD) is a closed-end management investment company launched in December 2004 and managed by Western Asset Management Company, a global fixed-income specialist. The fund seeks to provide a high level of current income by investing primarily in debt securities issued by sovereign, quasi-sovereign and corporate issuers in emerging markets. Its diversified approach combines top-down macroeconomic analysis with bottom-up credit research to identify attractive risk-adjusted opportunities across developing economies.

EMD’s portfolio spans a wide range of instruments, including sovereign government bonds, supranational obligations, corporate credits and other fixed-income securities.