COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.00.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CDP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Insider Transactions at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the first quarter worth $2,498,000. Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $5,361,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $3,081,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,350,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the first quarter worth about $13,958,000.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 0.8 %

CDP opened at $32.29 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.39 and a 200-day moving average of $27.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.90 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $32.51.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $187.34 million for 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%. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently -109.26%.

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.