Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO) Short Interest Up 45.5% in March

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 40,000 shares, a growth of 45.5% from the March 15th total of 27,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PFO traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,865. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.14. Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund has a fifty-two week low of $7.99 and a fifty-two week high of $9.54.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0505 per share. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 10,886 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 49,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 11,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Institutional investors own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

About Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating in the financial services sector.