iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Short Interest Up 49.4% in January

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,182,118 shares, an increase of 49.4% from the January 15th total of 4,137,395 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,298,735 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,298,735 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Price Performance

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $31.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,602,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,430,184. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 12-month low of $28.70 and a 12-month high of $32.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.38. The firm has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.53.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.1772 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFF. Providence First Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 32.6% during the second quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 47,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 11,587 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 79,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 33,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 21,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Company Profile

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).