Short Interest in First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) Expands By 794.3%

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,682,144 shares, a growth of 794.3% from the March 15th total of 188,102 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 543,045 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FTSL traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.98. The stock had a trading volume of 231,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,464. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a 12 month low of $44.37 and a 12 month high of $46.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.57.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Senior Loan ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTSL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF during the first quarter worth $5,254,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 111.5% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,714 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 4.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 284,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,042,000 after purchasing an additional 11,050 shares during the period. Finally, Betterment LLC boosted its position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 9.0% during the second quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period.

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.