iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,538,520 shares, a drop of 56.8% from the June 30th total of 10,509,821 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,646,277 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFF. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 0.7% in the second quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 191,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 133.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 8,379 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,153,000. Vigilare Wealth Management raised its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vigilare Wealth Management now owns 11,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 2,833.3% in the 2nd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Price Performance

Shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,137,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,332. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 52 week low of $30.10 and a 52 week high of $32.26. The stock has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.12.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.1417 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. This is a boost from iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.14.

About iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results, which correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index measures the performance of a select group of preferred stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Arca, Inc (NYSE Arca), NYSE Amex, NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market or NASDAQ Capital Market. The Underlying Index includes preferred stocks with a market capitalization over $100 million, which meet minimum price, liquidity, trading volume, maturity and other requirements determined by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw Hill Companies (S&P).