Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 353,170 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 92.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 353,170 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 49,300 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 376,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,666,000 after buying an additional 18,278 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 35.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,693,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,689,000 after buying an additional 710,491 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $494,000.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP opened at $27.28 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.09. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. On average, equities research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.305 per share. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CDP shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.43.

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.