COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading 0.8% Higher – Here’s What Happened

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s share price rose 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $33.28 and last traded at $33.10. Approximately 377,917 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 872,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Three 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.75.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.45.

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

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider bought 1,000 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 711.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the first quarter worth $102,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 840 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.