COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) shares shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.88 and last traded at $32.72. 426,236 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 883,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CDP. 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 target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.00 and its 200-day moving average is $29.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.72%.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,761 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,190,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,807,000 after acquiring an additional 764,859 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 404.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 792,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,043,000 after acquiring an additional 635,705 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 692,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,327,000 after acquiring an additional 564,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 315.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 567,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,978,000 after acquiring an additional 431,173 shares during the period.

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.