Short Interest in iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (NYSEARCA:IDU) Rises By 178.5%

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (NYSEARCA:IDU) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 91,205 shares, a growth of 178.5% from the July 15th total of 32,744 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 155,706 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IDU. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in iShares U.S. Utilities ETF in the 2nd quarter worth about $269,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Utilities ETF by 99.8% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Utilities ETF by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in iShares U.S. Utilities ETF by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in iShares U.S. Utilities ETF by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 205,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,451,000 after acquiring an additional 16,173 shares during the period.

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF Price Performance

IDU stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $112.53. 53,114 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 183,020. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.60. iShares U.S. Utilities ETF has a 1-year low of $105.06 and a 1-year high of $120.82.

About iShares U.S. Utilities ETF

iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index measures the performance of the utilities sector of the United States equity market. Its components primarily include utilities companies. BlackRock Fund Advisors acts as an investment adviser of the Fund.