Brandes Investment Partners LP Grows Stock Position in Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 670,692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 56,490 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Equity Commonwealth were worth $13,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Commonwealth during the 4th quarter worth about $16,834,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 27.5% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,658,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,081,000 after purchasing an additional 789,496 shares during the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Commonwealth in the first quarter valued at approximately $12,597,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Equity Commonwealth by 299.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 725,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,686,000 after acquiring an additional 543,344 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Equity Commonwealth by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 786,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,848,000 after purchasing an additional 531,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Commonwealth Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQC opened at $19.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 0.28. Equity Commonwealth has a one year low of $17.93 and a one year high of $21.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.44.

Equity Commonwealth declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 18th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equity Commonwealth Profile

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.