AlphaQuest LLC Increases Stock Holdings in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 8,503,100% in the first quarter, owning a total of 85,032 shares valued at approximately $2.32 million.
• COPT Defense Properties recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.68 for the quarter, beating estimates, and has set a FY 2025 EPS guidance of 2.650-2.690.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.305, providing a yield of 4.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 95.31%.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 8,503,100.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,032 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 85,031 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned 0.08% of COPT Defense Properties worth $2,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,795,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,425,000 after buying an additional 89,571 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 25.7% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,627,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,911,000 after buying an additional 741,765 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 2.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,945,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,047,000 after buying an additional 38,916 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,679,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,737,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,785,000 after buying an additional 281,834 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.17.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE CDP traded up $0.5240 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.9540. 941,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 858,347. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62 and a beta of 0.87. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $23.92 and a one year high of $34.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 2.96.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $175.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.55 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. 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 analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. COPT Defense Properties's payout ratio is presently 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.