John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) Short Interest Up 355.7% in March

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE:BTO) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 16,386 shares, a growth of 355.7% from the March 15th total of 3,596 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 58,956 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 valued at $19,793,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 24.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 41,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 8,240 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund by 39.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 17,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund during the third quarter valued at approximately $474,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.55% of the company’s stock.

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BTO opened at $37.75 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.53. John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has a 52-week low of $28.70 and a 52-week high of $39.85.

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%.

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.