First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF (NASDAQ:FTXN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF (NASDAQ:FTXN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 164,492 shares, a growth of 773.1% from the April 30th total of 18,841 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,479,587 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.0 days. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF during the fourth quarter worth $471,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF in the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF by 2,540.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the period.

First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ FTXN opened at $35.68 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.73. First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.07 million, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.49.

First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.1366 per share. This represents a $0.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 26th.

First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF Company Profile

The First Trust Nasdaq Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ US Smart Oil & Gas index. The fund tracks an index composed of 50 US oil and gas companies. Holdings are selected by liquidity and weighted based on volatility, value and growth factors. FTXN was launched on Sep 20, 2016 and is managed by First Trust.