Kennedy Capital Management LLC Makes New $3.40 Million Investment in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 140,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,399,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of COPT Defense Properties as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth about $2,498,000. Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,361,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,081,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,350,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,958,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 2.9 %

CDP stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.08. 953,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 847,061. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a current ratio of 3.66. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $29.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $187.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.11 million. COPT Defense Properties had a negative return on equity of 7.53% and a negative net margin of 16.83%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is -109.26%.

COPT Defense Properties 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.