CPT: Five Years and Still Chasing the S&P’s Shadow 🏦

Now, Camden Property Trust, or CPT for the folks who like their acronyms, is a bigwig in the apartment business. But let me tell ye, bigwig don’t always mean big bucks. Like a frog in a well, CPT’s been croaking about its size, but the world outside ain’t impressed.

Even with its dividend payouts-like a miser sprinkling pennies at a feast-Camden’s total return has trailed the S&P 500 like a hound dog after a rabbit. Now, I ain’t sayin’ this makes CPT a diamond in the rough, but it sure smells like someone spilled a whole jar of “undervalued” on the stock ticker. Let’s see if the scent lingers.

Lagging a Benchmark Indicator

If you’d dropped $1,000 on CPT in 2020, you’d have $1,405 today. A tidy 40%, sure, but the S&P 500 would’ve handed you $1,907 with a wink and a cigar. That’s like makin’ a stew and forgettin’ the salt-your neighbor’s got more flavor than your own kitchen.

Camden’s got 173 properties, 59,000 apartments-sounds like a kingdom, but it’s more like a kingdom where the king forgot to build a moat. With property prices high enough to make a eagle squawk, and rents that’d make a banker weep, growth’s been slower than a turtle in a snowstorm.

Last quarter, Camden’s revenue was $396.5 million, up 2%. A pebble in a river, not a rock in a landslide. And their FFO? Well, that’s the REIT world’s version of a broken compass-pointin’ nowhere fast. Their “core adjusted” FFO? $187.6 million, a drop in the ocean compared to last year’s numbers. Like tryin’ to bale a ship with a teaspoon.

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More Growth Needed

Camden’s occupancy rate? 96%. Sounds swell, but it’s like havin’ a bathtub full of water when you’re tryin’ to fill a swimming pool. There’s not much room to splash around. And those two new properties? They’ll be a thimble in a rainstorm compared to their 173-strong portfolio.

Their dividend? $1.55 per share, but it’s been as stagnant as a Sunday sermon. And that 3.9% yield? It’s the financial equivalent of a squirrel tryin’ to outpace a bear in a footrace. Not a bet I’d make.

So here’s my two cents, folks: if you’re chasin’ returns, let CPT keep its mule pace and find a stock that’s more willin’ to break into a gallop. 🐎

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2025-08-23 14:28