Short Interest in ProShares UltraShort Energy (NYSEARCA:DUG) Rises By 123.1%
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemProShares UltraShort Energy (NYSEARCA:DUG – Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 74,354 shares, a growth of 123.1% from the March 15th total of 33,325 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 165,692 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 7.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.
ProShares UltraShort Energy Price Performance
NYSEARCA:DUG traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $19.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 71,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,809. ProShares UltraShort Energy has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $47.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.97.
ProShares UltraShort Energy Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th were given a $0.0845 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProShares UltraShort Energy
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of ProShares UltraShort Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of ProShares UltraShort Energy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of ProShares UltraShort Energy by 7,879.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 29,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 28,919 shares during the period.
About ProShares UltraShort Energy
ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (the Fund) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index. The Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index measures the performance of the oil and gas industry of the United States equity market. Component companies include oil drilling equipment and services, oil companies (major and secondary), pipelines, liquid, solid or gaseous fossil fuel producers and service companies. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as -200% of the daily return of the index.