First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FSCS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF (NASDAQ:FSCS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,363 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the November 30th total of 4,921 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,518 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 17,518 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF Stock Performance

NASDAQ FSCS opened at $36.11 on Wednesday. First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF has a one year low of $30.22 and a one year high of $37.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.55 million, a PE ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.03.

First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a $0.41 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSCS. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF by 4.5% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 362,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,308,000 after buying an additional 15,597 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF by 254.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 41,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 29,653 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,260,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new stake in First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $550,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 12,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period.

About First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF

The First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF (FSCS) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the The SMID Capital Strength index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of 100 well-capitalized small- and mid-cap US companies perceived to hold strong market positions. FSCS was launched on Jun 20, 2017 and is issued by First Trust.