First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEMS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 40,449 shares, an increase of 138.8% from the July 15th total of 16,939 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 38,006 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 4.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 96,673 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 4,279 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 2.5% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 30,783 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 21.8% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 31,172 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,576 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,066 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 111,516 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock worth $4,927,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FEMS opened at $45.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.09. First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $40.94 and a 1-year high of $49.49. The firm has a market cap of $254.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.50.

First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

About First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (FEMS) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX EM Small Cap index. The fund aims to outperform other index funds by selecting small-cap emerging markets securities using quantitative metrics. FEMS was launched on Feb 15, 2012 and is managed by First Trust.