First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) saw a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 256,371 shares, an increase of 330.2% from the June 30th total of 59,597 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 258,225 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTSL. New England Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 2,022.3% during the 4th quarter. New England Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,774,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,007 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 4.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,563,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,655,000 after buying an additional 60,649 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,550,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,145,000 after buying an additional 25,058 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 15.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,274,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,097,000 after buying an additional 173,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,263,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,949,000 after buying an additional 128,141 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Price Performance

Shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF stock opened at $44.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.11. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a 12 month low of $44.37 and a 12 month high of $46.15.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 21st will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 21st.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Company Profile

The First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P\u002FLSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 index. The fund holds senior floating rate bank loans from firms around the globe. The actively managed fund can hold up to 20% of assets in non-senior loans, including high-yield bonds and equities. FTSL was launched on May 1, 2013 and is managed by First Trust.