Short Interest in First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (NASDAQ:FTXG) Grows By 131.0%

First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (NASDAQ:FTXG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 131,348 shares, a growth of 131.0% from the March 15th total of 56,864 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 27,894 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 13.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF Stock Performance

Shares of First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF stock traded down $0.28 on Monday, hitting $22.03. 125,394 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,968. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.93 million, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.39. First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF has a 52 week low of $20.43 and a 52 week high of $23.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.88.

First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were issued a $0.0893 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG purchased a new stake in First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,000,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lifted its stake in First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 42,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 19,090 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 35,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 6,121 shares during the period.

First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF Company Profile

The First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (FTXG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Nasdaq US Smart Food & Beverage index. The fund follows a liquidity-selected, multi-factor-weighted index of US food & beverage companies. FTXG was launched on Sep 20, 2016 and is managed by First Trust.