COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $33.00 to $38.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. COPT Defense Properties traded as high as $33.36 and last traded at $32.83. Approximately 864,750 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 875,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.70.

Several other analysts have also commented on CDP. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CDP. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after buying an additional 1,293,761 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,190,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,807,000 after purchasing an additional 764,859 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 792,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,043,000 after purchasing an additional 635,705 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 443.1% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 692,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,327,000 after buying an additional 564,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 315.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 567,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,978,000 after acquiring an additional 431,173 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. 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.