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

by · The Markets Daily

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL – Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 290,658 shares, a growth of 617.3% from the February 12th total of 40,520 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 369,293 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 369,293 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF during the first quarter worth about $5,254,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in First Trust Senior Loan ETF in the second quarter valued at about $207,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 19,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors boosted its stake in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTSL traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.93. The company had a trading volume of 180,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,565. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a fifty-two week low of $44.30 and a fifty-two week high of $46.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.74.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%.

About First Trust Senior Loan ETF

(Get Free Report)

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.

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