COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Announces $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.295 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

COPT Defense Properties has a payout ratio of 92.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect COPT Defense Properties to earn $2.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.5%.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.90. 1,089,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 854,294. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.96. COPT Defense Properties has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CDP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other COPT Defense Properties news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,820. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.