Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 87,313 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 77.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,313 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 35,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 58,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, Presima Securities ULC lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CDP opened at $31.16 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $34.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.17. 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 company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CDP shares. Wedbush upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

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.