COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Stock Price Up 0.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) shares rose 0.4% on Thursday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $33.00 to $38.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. COPT Defense Properties traded as high as $33.36 and last traded at $32.83. Approximately 864,750 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 875,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.70.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Wedbush raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,820. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after buying an additional 1,293,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 21,388 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,810,000 after buying an additional 49,300 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,522,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,521,000 after buying an additional 18,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 9.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,983,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,648,000 after buying an additional 174,206 shares in the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $31.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32). The firm 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%. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 96.72%.

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.