COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $33.33 and last traded at $33.00. 168,724 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 879,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CDP has been the subject of several analyst 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $167.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.72%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CDP. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 711.4% in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 3rd quarter worth about $91,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 34.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during 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.