COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.88.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CDP. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CDP stock opened at $29.53 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.51. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 18.44%. Equities analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 95.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,797,000 after buying an additional 21,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,810,000 after buying an additional 49,300 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 35.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,693,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,689,000 after acquiring an additional 710,491 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,522,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,521,000 after purchasing an additional 18,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in COPT Defense Properties by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,906,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,001,000 after purchasing an additional 723,486 shares during the last quarter.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.