Citigroup Upgrades Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) to Buy

Citigroup upgraded shares of Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $138.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their previous price objective of $125.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CPT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Camden Property Trust from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Camden Property Trust from $127.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Camden Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Camden Property Trust from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Camden Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $129.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Camden Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $127.76.

Camden Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of CPT stock traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $121.20. 420,615 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 934,336. Camden Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $94.75 and a fifty-two week high of $127.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock's fifty day moving average is $118.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.19. The company has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.94.

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Camden Property Trust had a return on equity of 3.35% and a net margin of 10.58%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is an increase from Camden Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Camden Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 280.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Camden Property Trust news, CEO Richard J. Campo sold 7,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $838,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 300,135 shares in the company, valued at $34,365,457.50. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Heather J. Brunner sold 264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total value of $29,055.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,130,646.38. This represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Camden Property Trust by 2.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 107,361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Camden Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $294,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Camden Property Trust during the third quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Camden Property Trust by 60.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 188,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $23,261,000 after purchasing an additional 70,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company's stock.

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.