First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) Short Interest Up 119.0% in June

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE:FCT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 49,368 shares, an increase of 119.0% from the June 15th total of 22,546 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 105,940 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 97.6% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Financial Group LLC grew its stake in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 3.6% during the first quarter. Genesis Financial Group LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 65,666 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,288 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 53,039 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its stake in First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 349,329 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 270,048 shares in the last quarter.

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCT traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $9.59. 202,626 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,099. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.77. First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II has a 52-week low of $9.40 and a 52-week high of $10.29.

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.0813 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st.

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II Company Profile

First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II (NYSE: FCT) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company that seeks to provide current income with preservation of capital. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the fund pursues its objective by investing primarily in senior floating rate loans and other floating rate debt instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. companies. As a closed-end vehicle, FCT issues a fixed number of common shares and may utilize leverage to enhance returns for shareholders.

Under normal market conditions, FCT allocates at least 80% of its managed assets to senior floating rate loans, which are typically secured obligations of corporate borrowers.