Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) was the recipient of a significant 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 6.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQC. Creative Planning lifted its position in Equity Commonwealth by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Equity Commonwealth by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Equity Commonwealth by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Equity Commonwealth by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. 96.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Commonwealth Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EQC traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $1.75. The company had a trading volume of 740,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,276. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.83 million, a P/E ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.98. Equity Commonwealth has a twelve month low of $1.40 and a twelve month high of $21.00.

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.