First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FPA) Stock Short Interest Climbs 632.3%

First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FPA) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 42,884 shares, an increase of 632.3% from the September 15th total of 5,856 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,449 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FPA. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund by 14.5% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 42,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 5,339 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund by 74.2% in the second quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 33,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 14,170 shares in the last quarter. Risk Paradigm Group LLC increased its position in shares of First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund by 74.6% in the second quarter. Risk Paradigm Group LLC now owns 31,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 13,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund in the second quarter valued at $319,000.

First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

Shares of FPA stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.64. 5,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,236. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.95. The firm has a market cap of $116.74 million, a PE ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 1.09. First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund has a 1-year low of $36.23 and a 1-year high of $58.89.

First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th were issued a $0.3666 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1513.

First Trust Asia Pacific ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Asia Pacific Ex-Japan AlphaDEX Fund (FPA) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund selects and weights 100 stocks from the S&P Asia Pacific Ex-Japan BMI Index based on their growth and value factors. FPA was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.