COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading 0.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) shares shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $33.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. COPT Defense Properties traded as high as $32.85 and last traded at $32.35. 122,929 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 877,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.26.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Transactions at COPT Defense Properties

In other COPT Defense Properties news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Quarry LP increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 711.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the third quarter worth about $91,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 34.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.72.

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

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. COPT Defense Properties’s 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.