First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEARCA:FXZ) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEARCA:FXZ) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 36,050 shares, a decline of 32.0% from the February 26th total of 53,047 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 39,817 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 837 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund by 26,611.1% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Petix & Botte Co acquired a new position in First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund in the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000.

First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.69. 11,540 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,052. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.42. The company has a market capitalization of $291.08 million, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.15. First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund has a 1 year low of $46.13 and a 1 year high of $80.01.

First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 26th will be given a dividend of $0.2441 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 26th. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%.

First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund Company Profile

The First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund (FXZ) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the StrataQuant Materials index. The fund tracks a tiered, equal-weighted index of large- and mid-cap basic materials firms in the US. Holdings are selected and weighted based on growth and value metrics. FXZ was launched on May 8, 2007 and is managed by First Trust.