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

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.88.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 54,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after buying an additional 38,288 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 316,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,485 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $414,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 10,801 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE CDP opened at $27.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.96. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $34.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.33.

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

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

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

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.