COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 0.9% – What’s Next?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) shares rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $32.93 and last traded at $32.77. Approximately 197,801 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 884,142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CDP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.93 and a 200-day moving average of $29.01.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the third quarter worth about $91,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 13.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 42,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,885 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,797,000 after purchasing an additional 21,388 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 101,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 701 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.