FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (NYSEARCA:QDEF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (NYSEARCA:QDEF) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 26,586 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the February 26th total of 21,050 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,532 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clear Point Advisors Inc. increased its position in FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Clear Point Advisors Inc. now owns 13,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its position in FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 4,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund by 6,092.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares in the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co bought a new position in shares of FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund in the fourth quarter worth $242,000.

FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund Price Performance

Shares of QDEF stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $77.97. The stock had a trading volume of 4,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,524. FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund has a twelve month low of $61.61 and a twelve month high of $84.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.18 million, a PE ratio of 20.05 and a beta of 0.85.

FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th were paid a $0.2011 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%.

About FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund

The FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (QDEF) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks an index of companies with higher dividend yields and lower betas chosen from the Northern Trust 1250 Index. QDEF was launched on Dec 14, 2012 and is managed by FlexShares.