John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE:HPS) Short Interest Down 10.6% in August

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE:HPS) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 153,900 shares, a decrease of 10.6% from the August 15th total of 172,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 45,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:HPS traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.56. The company had a trading volume of 35,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,470. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III has a 1 year low of $11.79 and a 1 year high of $16.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.14 and a 200 day moving average of $15.63.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 750,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,608,000 after buying an additional 319,246 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 17,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Concourse Financial Group Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III in the 1st quarter valued at $1,947,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III during the 1st quarter worth $199,000.

About John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in securities of companies operating across diversified sectors.