COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Short Interest Update

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,300,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the February 28th total of 6,080,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CDP opened at $27.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11 and a beta of 0.96. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.305 dividend. This is a positive change from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 99.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 81.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 137,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,157,000 after buying an additional 61,389 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $494,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 4.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,810,000 after purchasing an additional 49,300 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 50,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 6,616 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.