Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Sees Notable Short Interest Surge in December

In the month of December, the Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (NASDAQ:VIGI) experienced a significant jump in short interest. By December 15th, there were 152,900 shares sold short, marking a notable increase of 39.4% from the 109,700 shares recorded on November 30th. The current short-interest ratio stands at 0.5 days, given the average daily volume of 319,800 shares.

Activity by Hedge Funds

A number of hedge funds have been active with the VIGI shares recently. Bogart Wealth LLC significantly increased its holdings in VIGI by 300.0% during the second quarter, now owning 400 shares valued at approximately $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares. Orion Capital Management LLC initiated a new position worth $36,000 during the third quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC made a new investment valued at $45,000 in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. augmented its stake by a massive 33,300.0% in the third quarter, resulting in ownership of 668 shares valued at $48,000. Also, amid the fourth quarter, Retirement Group LLC doubled its investment in VIGI to 687 shares, similarly valued at $48,000, with the purchase of an additional 351 shares.

Stock Performance Insights

On the trading front, VIGI shares began trading at $79.34 on Monday. The ETF boasts a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, and a beta of 0.77. VIGI has observed a 12-month low of $68.45 and reached a 12-month high of $79.70. Its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages are at $74.53 and $74.15, respectively.

Recent Dividend Announcement

The fund also declared a quarterly dividend recently, with payments made on December 21st to shareholders recorded on December 19th. The dividend paid was $0.3743 per share, leading to an annualized dividend of $1.50 and yielding 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was set for December 18th.

About the Fund

The Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIGI) follows the S&P Global Ex-U.S. Dividend Growers index, comprising market-cap-weighted developed and emerging market firms that have consecutively increased dividends for at least seven years. Managed by Vanguard, VIGI commenced operations on February 25, 2016.

Vanguard, Dividend, ETF