John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,963 shares, a growth of 277.4% from the July 15th total of 3,170 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 51,191 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BTO stock opened at $41.05 on Thursday. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $42.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.52.

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 667,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,405,000 after buying an additional 23,822 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 5.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 558,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,793,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 3.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 267,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,606,000 after buying an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. FCA Corp TX increased its stake in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 2.4% during the first quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 88,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 86,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.55% of the company’s stock.

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund Company Profile

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE: BTO) is a closed-end management investment company sponsored by John Hancock Investment Management, a division of Manulife Investment Management. Since its inception in August 2004, the fund has sought to deliver total return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation. As a publicly traded fund, it offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of financial services companies that might otherwise require direct equity investments or specialized mandates.

The fund primarily invests in common stocks, preferred stocks and convertible securities issued by companies in the banking, insurance, brokerage and specialty finance sectors.