COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $33.28 and last traded at $33.10. 377,917 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 872,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.75.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.52 and its 200 day moving average is $28.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13 and a beta of 0.98.

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

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 96.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the third quarter worth $91,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 42,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 4,885 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,797,000 after acquiring an additional 21,388 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 101,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period.

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.