iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 9,170,872 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 7,544,435 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,546,569 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $571,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $748,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,987,000. Tran Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 1,144.7% during the fourth quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,742,000 after purchasing an additional 81,448 shares during the period. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust bought a new stake in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF during the third quarter worth $1,254,000. 4.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Price Performance

Shares of PFF stock opened at $31.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a PE ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.05 and a 200-day moving average of $31.20. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a one year low of $29.21 and a one year high of $32.26.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.142 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Company Profile

iShares U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results, which correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index measures the performance of a select group of preferred stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Arca, Inc (NYSE Arca), NYSE Amex, NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market or NASDAQ Capital Market. The Underlying Index includes preferred stocks with a market capitalization over $100 million, which meet minimum price, liquidity, trading volume, maturity and other requirements determined by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw Hill Companies (S&P).