John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE:HPF) Short Interest Up 74.4% in March

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE:HPF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 30,700 shares, an increase of 74.4% from the February 28th total of 17,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 41,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPF. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 141,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 43,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 19,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II Stock Up 0.0 %

HPF opened at $16.70 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.28. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II has a 12 month low of $15.39 and a 12 month high of $19.00.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.1235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.88%.

About John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in securities of companies operating across diversified sectors.