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

Key Points

• COPT Defense Properties has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages, with an average price target of $33.50.
• The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for its most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.305 per share with a yield of 4.0%.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes in COPT Defense Properties, with notable increases from Alliancebernstein L.P. and Westwood Holdings Group Inc. in the last quarters.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CDP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, Director Lisa G. Trimberger sold 4,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.72, for a total transaction of $150,405.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,287 shares in the company, valued at $623,216.64. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 3,491 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 16,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 1,993 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 249,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,888,000 after buying an additional 10,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 263.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 11,582 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of CDP stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.37. 1,560,145 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,040,090. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $23.92 and a 1-year high of $34.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.93.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.01. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The company had revenue of $175.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. COPT Defense Properties has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.660-0.680 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.650-2.690 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio is 95.31%.

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.