First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Trust Senior Loan ETF (NASDAQ:FTSL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 181,900 shares, a growth of 490.6% from the March 31st total of 30,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 311,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ FTSL traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.03. 136,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 320,706. First Trust Senior Loan ETF has a 12 month low of $44.53 and a 12 month high of $46.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.99.

First Trust Senior Loan ETF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.69%.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Senior Loan ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Flagstar Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 361.2% during the fourth quarter. Flagstar Advisors Inc. now owns 61,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 48,508 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 52,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Loan ETF by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 147,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the period.

About First Trust Senior Loan ETF

The First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P\u002FLSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 index. The fund holds senior floating rate bank loans from firms around the globe. The actively managed fund can hold up to 20% of assets in non-senior loans, including high-yield bonds and equities.