First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Down 62.3% in September

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,110 shares, a decline of 62.3% from the August 31st total of 10,913 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,483 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HISF. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,186,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 11.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 43,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 72.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after purchasing an additional 26,452 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 216.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 73,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 50,238 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 129,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 35,807 shares during the last quarter. 51.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Price Performance

NASDAQ:HISF traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $42.64. The stock had a trading volume of 19,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,971. First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF has a 12-month low of $42.50 and a 12-month high of $45.61. The company has a market cap of $98.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.18.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.1840 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th. This is a positive change from First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.1820. This represents a $2.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Company Profile

The First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (HISF) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund uses a fund-of-funds structure to primarily seek income across a broad range of fixed income securities of US and non-US issuers. HISF was launched on Aug 13, 2014 and is managed by First Trust.