Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Cuts Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lessened its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 447,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235,434 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 0.40% of COPT Defense Properties worth $11,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $102,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CDP opened at $30.00 on Monday. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $30.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.78, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.84.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $187.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.11 million. COPT Defense Properties had a negative net margin of 15.75% and a negative return on equity of 7.52%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -109.26%.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,820. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CDP. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

COPT Defense Properties 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.