Short Interest in Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) Increases By 24.2%

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the February 28th total of 1,280,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 887,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Camden Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:CPT opened at $122.93 on Thursday. Camden Property Trust has a 12-month low of $94.75 and a 12-month high of $127.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $119.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Camden Property Trust had a return on equity of 3.35% and a net margin of 10.58%. On average, analysts anticipate that Camden Property Trust will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Camden Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Camden Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Camden Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 280.00%.

Insider Activity at Camden Property Trust

In related news, CFO Alexander J. Jessett sold 13,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total transaction of $1,496,171.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 124,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,167. This represents a 9.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard J. Campo sold 1,043 shares of Camden Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total transaction of $114,792.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,918,065.52. The trade was a 0.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,548 shares of company stock worth $2,912,212 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Camden Property Trust by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,250,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,001,737,000 after acquiring an additional 125,287 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Camden Property Trust by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,118,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,693,000 after purchasing an additional 36,528 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Camden Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,400,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $510,674,000 after purchasing an additional 277,117 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Camden Property Trust by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,968,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $344,432,000 after purchasing an additional 438,685 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Camden Property Trust by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,816,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,032,000 after buying an additional 76,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CPT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Camden Property Trust from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Camden Property Trust from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Camden Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Camden Property Trust from $127.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Camden Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Camden Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.76.

Camden Property Trust Company Profile

Camden Property Trust, an S&P 500 Company, is a real estate company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and construction of multifamily apartment communities. Camden owns and operates 172 properties containing 58,250 apartment homes across the United States.