COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $20.50 and last traded at $25.42, with a volume of 400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 1.7 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. As a group, analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. This is a positive change from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 99.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 376,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,666,000 after purchasing an additional 18,278 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,693,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,689,000 after buying an additional 710,491 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $494,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $16,063,000.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.