First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEP) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 90,810 shares, a decline of 77.4% from the February 12th total of 401,817 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 48,575 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 48,575 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 199.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 165.4% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,624,000 after acquiring an additional 24,794 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund during the second quarter worth $233,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 6.1% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 36,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund by 20.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 173,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,290,000 after purchasing an additional 30,029 shares during the period.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $55.21. 35,986 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 50,206. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -83.65 and a beta of 0.98. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund has a 1 year low of $33.02 and a 1 year high of $59.39.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5446 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund’s dividend payout ratio is presently -271.21%.

First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (FEP) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Europe index. The fund tracks a tiered equal-weighted index of 200 companies selected from the S&P Europe BMI based on the S&P’s AlphaDex selection methodology. FEP was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.