iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Short Interest Update

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,544,435 shares, a decrease of 34.9% from the February 26th total of 11,580,569 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,604,837 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Price Performance

Shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.16. 3,168,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,849,852. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.32. The stock has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.53. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 12-month low of $28.70 and a 12-month high of $32.26.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.0312 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Payden & Rygel purchased a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 4.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).