Short Interest in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO) Rises By 64.0%

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. (NYSE:PFO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 14,100 shares, a growth of 64.0% from the February 13th total of 8,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 29,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFO. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 10,886 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 49,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 11,435 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund during the fourth quarter worth $113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.90% of the company’s stock.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Price Performance

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund stock opened at $9.16 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.20. Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund has a fifty-two week low of $7.89 and a fifty-two week high of $9.54.

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0505 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%.

About Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating in the financial services sector.