John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT) Short Interest Up 769.2% in July

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 45,904 shares, an increase of 769.2% from the June 30th total of 5,281 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,216 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Price Performance

Shares of PDT opened at $12.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.04. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund has a 1-year low of $12.53 and a 1-year high of $13.65.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0883 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This is a boost from John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund’s previous monthly dividend of $0.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PDT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 2.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 687,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,054,000 after purchasing an additional 16,425 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 9.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 28,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 2,425 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,121,000. 12.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Company Profile

The John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT) is a publicly traded, closed-end management investment company designed to deliver high current income and potential capital growth. The fund’s core strategy centers on dividend-paying and income-producing securities, combining equity and fixed-income instruments to achieve a balanced risk-return profile.

Managed by John Hancock Investment Management (US) LLC, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, the fund primarily allocates assets to dividend-paying common stocks and preferred stocks of U.S.