COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

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 received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CDP. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,560,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,040,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 2.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 0.93. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $23.92 and a 52 week high of $34.22.

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

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lisa G. Trimberger sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.52, for a total transaction of $91,560.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,945,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,047,000 after acquiring an additional 38,916 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 5,145 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,403,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,277,000 after acquiring an additional 245,440 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 711,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,412,000 after acquiring an additional 63,978 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

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.