COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.88.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CDP. BTIG Research raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 0.0 %

COPT Defense Properties stock opened at $26.98 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.39.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.305 per share. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 99.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 813.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,247,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,371,000 after acquiring an additional 5,563,548 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,795,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,425,000 after acquiring an additional 89,571 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,283,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,621,000 after acquiring an additional 590,051 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,099,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,916,000 after acquiring an additional 335,775 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,797,000 after acquiring an additional 21,388 shares during the period.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.