COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 1.4% – Still a Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) shot up 1.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.11 and last traded at $31.11. 105,056 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 854,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CDP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.86.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average of $28.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CDP. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $407,496,000. Earnest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $129,344,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,761 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $19,459,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,190,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,807,000 after purchasing an additional 764,859 shares in the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements.