Short Interest in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF) Rises By 90.4%

Posted by Geri Gentry on Sep 15th, 2026

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (NASDAQ:HISF – Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,913 shares, a growth of 90.4% from the August 15th total of 5,732 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,121 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 701,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,118,000 after buying an additional 261,046 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 129,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,861,000 after acquiring an additional 35,807 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,186,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 72.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 26,452 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 43,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.36% of the company’s stock.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:HISF traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,577. First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF has a 12 month low of $43.16 and a 12 month high of $45.61. The stock has a market cap of $97.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.30.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.182 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%.

First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

The First Trust High Income Strategic Focus ETF (HISF) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund uses a fund-of-funds structure to primarily seek income across a broad range of fixed income securities of US and non-US issuers. HISF was launched on Aug 13, 2014 and is managed by First Trust.