Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) Short Interest Up 298.0% in December

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,010,000 shares, an increase of 298.0% from the November 30th total of 1,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Equity Commonwealth Price Performance

Shares of EQC stock traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $1.76. The stock had a trading volume of 632,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,525,414. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $14.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.10. Equity Commonwealth has a 1 year low of $1.40 and a 1 year high of $21.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.91 million, a P/E ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Commonwealth

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 125.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 138,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 77,043 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Commonwealth during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,470,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 116,281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,822 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 96,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 913,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,730,000 after purchasing an additional 218,204 shares during the last quarter. 96.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Equity Commonwealth from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

About Equity Commonwealth

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) is a Chicago based, internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) with commercial office properties in the United States. EQC's portfolio is comprised of four properties totaling 1.5 million square feet.