COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.43.

CDP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in COPT Defense Properties by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 16,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

CDP stock opened at $27.60 on Thursday. COPT Defense Properties has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $34.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.03.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. On average, research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.305 dividend. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.19%.

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.