First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEARCA:FXU) Short Interest Up 55.7% in January

First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEARCA:FXU) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 761,135 shares, an increase of 55.7% from the December 31st total of 488,793 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 427,545 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 427,545 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

Shares of FXU traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.61. 1,163,313 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,539,571. The stock has a market capitalization of $850.63 million, a PE ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.37. First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund has a 52-week low of $36.88 and a 52-week high of $47.74.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FXU. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund by 13.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 932,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,377,000 after buying an additional 107,425 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 861,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,161,000 after acquiring an additional 84,697 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 547,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,628,000 after purchasing an additional 103,737 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund by 16.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 541,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,931,000 after purchasing an additional 75,448 shares during the period. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 499,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,504,000 after purchasing an additional 15,433 shares during the last quarter.

About First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund

First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the StrataQuant Utilities Index (the Index). The Index is an enhanced index created and administered by the AMEX, which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index. The AMEX constructs the Index by ranking the stocks, which are members of the Russell 1000 Index on growth factors, including 3, 6 and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one-year sales growth, and separately on value factors, including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets.