Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, a decline of 30.4% from the February 13th total of 1,840,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 853,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Camden Property Trust news, Director Heather J. Brunner sold 1,853 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $212,168.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,486.50. This represents a 14.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Alexander J. Jessett sold 13,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $1,496,171.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 124,246 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,167. The trade was a 9.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,548 shares of company stock valued at $2,912,212 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CPT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 125,287 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Camden Property Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,118,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $886,693,000 after buying an additional 36,528 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 277,117 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Camden Property Trust by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,297,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $407,324,000 after acquiring an additional 416,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Camden Property Trust by 17.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 438,685 shares during the period. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Camden Property Trust from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Camden Property Trust from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Camden Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Camden Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Camden Property Trust from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.19.

Camden Property Trust Trading Up 1.8 %

CPT stock traded up $2.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $120.24. The company had a trading volume of 705,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 855,856. The stock has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 80.16, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.87 and a 200-day moving average of $119.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Camden Property Trust has a one year low of $94.75 and a one year high of $127.69.

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

Camden Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Camden Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Camden Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 280.00%.

About Camden Property Trust

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.