BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust (NYSE:BTZ) Short Interest Up 38.4% in March

BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust (NYSE:BTZ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 101,600 shares, an increase of 38.4% from the February 28th total of 73,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 265,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days.

BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust Price Performance

BTZ stock opened at $10.79 on Wednesday. BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust has a one year low of $9.92 and a one year high of $11.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.81.

BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.0839 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust’s previous monthly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $1.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BTZ. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,172,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,619,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,858,000 after purchasing an additional 309,291 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 778,180 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $8,140,000 after purchasing an additional 234,539 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,440,215 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $15,065,000 after buying an additional 225,179 shares during the period. Finally, Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its holdings in BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 5,161,376 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $53,988,000 after buying an additional 213,986 shares during the last quarter.

About BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust

BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust is a closed ended balanced mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc The fund is co-managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC and BlackRock (Singapore) Limited. It invests in the fixed income markets across the globe. For the fixed income portion of the portfolio, the fund primarily invests in securities with an average credit quality of BBB by Standard & Poor's Corporation.