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

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ:PFF) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,160,000 shares, a growth of 32.5% from the December 15th total of 9,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,164,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFF. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 146.0% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 10,941 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,555,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,913,000 after acquiring an additional 90,356 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 129,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,073,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 57,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFF traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.75. 3,082,508 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,978,019. The firm has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.51. iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF has a 52-week low of $30.56 and a 52-week high of $33.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.34.

iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.1767 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. This is a positive change from iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF’s previous monthly dividend of $0.17.

About iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

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.