COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during 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 mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 877,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.26.

CDP has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other COPT Defense Properties news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

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

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.70.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.