COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s stock price traded up 1.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.11 and last traded at $31.11. 105,056 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 854,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on CDP shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.15.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $189.23 million during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is 96.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 35,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 58,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 3.5% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period.

COPT Defense Properties Company 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.