First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) Short Interest Up 262.1% in August

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ:FEM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 137,270 shares, a growth of 262.1% from the August 15th total of 37,914 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 73,105 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 64.0% in the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 371.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Price Performance

Shares of FEM traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.44. The stock had a trading volume of 171,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,446. First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund has a 52 week low of $25.85 and a 52 week high of $35.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.82. The firm has a market cap of $802.56 million, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.61.

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a $0.1899 dividend. This is an increase from First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 25th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%.

About First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

The First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the NASDAQ AlphaDEX EM index. The fund tracks an index of emerging markets companies selected using a quantitative methodology and weighted in tiers. FEM was launched on Apr 18, 2011 and is managed by First Trust.