COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 1.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s stock price traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday 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 $33.29. 216,646 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 872,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.70.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CDP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

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

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.