iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (NASDAQ:ESGU) Short Interest Down 14.0% in February

iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (NASDAQ:ESGU) was the target of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the February 13th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 864,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESGU. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 43,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,541,000 after buying an additional 14,432 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its position in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its position in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 44,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,647,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. bought a new position in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000.

iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF Stock Performance

Shares of ESGU stock opened at $123.41 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.73. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16 and a beta of 1.02. iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has a twelve month low of $108.40 and a twelve month high of $134.50.

iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.3282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th.

iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF Company Profile

The iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus index. The fund tracks an index composed of US companies that are selected and weighted for positive environmental, social and governance characteristics. ESGU was launched on Dec 1, 2016 and is managed by BlackRock.