COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Trading 0.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.88 and last traded at $32.72. Approximately 426,236 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 883,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CDP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.20. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties's payout ratio is currently 96.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter worth about $91,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,885 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 21,388 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 101,165 shares of the company's stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter.

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.