COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s stock price traded up 0.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.80 and last traded at $32.65. 145,635 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 883,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CDP. BTIG Research boosted 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. upped their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.01. 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 released 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). The company had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 35,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 58,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.