ProShares Short High Yield (NYSEARCA:SJB) Short Interest Up 2,391.4% in March

ProShares Short High Yield (NYSEARCA:SJB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 985,931 shares, an increase of 2,391.4% from the February 26th total of 39,573 shares. Approximately 34.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 822,880 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Institutional Trading of ProShares Short High Yield

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in ProShares Short High Yield by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 1,481,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,776,000 after acquiring an additional 460,525 shares during the last quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ProShares Short High Yield in the second quarter valued at $8,942,000. Trek Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ProShares Short High Yield in the third quarter valued at $1,908,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in ProShares Short High Yield in the second quarter valued at $1,175,000. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in ProShares Short High Yield in the fourth quarter valued at $440,000.

ProShares Short High Yield Trading Up 0.7%

ProShares Short High Yield stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $15.64. 641,428 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 306,455. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.39. ProShares Short High Yield has a 1 year low of $15.18 and a 1 year high of $16.95.

ProShares Short High Yield Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a $0.0333 dividend. This represents a $0.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th.

About ProShares Short High Yield

The Proshares Short High Yield (SJB) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield index. The fund provides inverse exposure, reset daily, to a modified market-value-weighted index comprising US-dollar-denominated corporate high-yield bonds with maturities between 3 and 15 years. SJB was launched on Mar 21, 2011 and is managed by ProShares.