Based in Houston, Texas, Camden Property Trust (CPT) is a real estate company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and construction of multifamily apartment communities. With a market cap of $13.3 billion, the company owns and operates 172 properties containing 58,250 apartment homes across the U.S.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap” stocks, and Camden Property fits right into that category. The company is one of the largest publicly traded multifamily companies in the United States, employing approximately 1600 people, and is also renowned for its employee-centric culture.
Shares of CPT are trading 1.7% below their 52-week high of $127.38, recorded on Sep. 19. The REIT has surged 14.5% over the past three months, surpassing the broader Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 1.3% return over the same time frame.
In the longer term, CPT stock is up 26.1% on a YTD basis, outpacing NASX’s 19.6% gains. However, shares of CPT have risen 22.5% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming NASX’s 33.3% returns over the same time frame.
To confirm its bullish trend, CPT has been trading above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since late April.
CPT has underperformed over the past year due to a combination of oversupply in key markets like Houston and Phoenix, which has weakened rental demand, and underperformance in funds from operations (FFO), reflecting higher operating costs and reduced rental growth potential.
Shares of CPT rose 2.7% following its Q2 earnings release on Aug. 1 due to the company’s FFO of $1.71 per share and revenues of $387.2 million, surpassing the Wall Street estimates. The better-than-expected performance was driven by robust rental demand from states like North Carolina and Arizona and higher renewal rates offsetting challenges in saturated regions.
CPT has slightly lagged behind its rival, Equity Residential’s (EQR) 22.7% gain over the past 52 weeks but has surpassed EQR’s 25.2% returns on a YTD basis.
Despite CPT’s underperformance relative to the broader market over the past year, analysts remain moderately optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 25 analysts covering the stock, and the mean price target of $125.23 suggests a marginal premium to its current levels.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
