Financial Survey: Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) versus COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for COPT Defense Properties and Highwoods Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	4	0	2.57
Highwoods Properties	1	3	1	0	2.00

COPT Defense Properties presently has a consensus price target of $30.86, suggesting a potential downside of 3.09%. Highwoods Properties has a consensus price target of $31.20, suggesting a potential downside of 2.41%. Given Highwoods Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Highwoods Properties is more favorable than COPT Defense Properties.

Risk & Volatility

COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highwoods Properties has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Highwoods Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. COPT Defense Properties pays out 96.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Highwoods Properties pays out 149.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Highwoods Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COPT Defense Properties	18.34%	8.99%	3.25%
Highwoods Properties	17.40%	6.05%	2.40%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Highwoods Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COPT Defense Properties	$749.56 million	4.79	-$73.47 million	$1.22	26.10
Highwoods Properties	$827.20 million	4.10	$148.71 million	$1.34	23.86

Highwoods Properties has higher revenue and earnings than COPT Defense Properties. Highwoods Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than COPT Defense Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

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. As of December 31, 2023, the Company's Defense/IT Portfolio of 190 properties, including 24 owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, encompassed 21.7 million square feet and was 97.2% leased.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. Highwoods is in the work-placemaking business. We believe that by creating environments and experiences where the best and brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart, we can deliver greater value to our customers, their teammates and, in turn, our stakeholders.