COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Up 0.1% - Should You Buy?

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) rose 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.36 and last traded at $30.95. Approximately 78,960 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 887,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI increased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50 day moving average is $32.00 and its 200 day moving average is $29.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. COPT Defense Properties's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CDP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 13.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 42,381 shares of the company's stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 4,885 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company's stock worth $88,797,000 after acquiring an additional 21,388 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 101,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

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.