Brokerages Set COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Target Price at $33.43

Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.14.

CDP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 4,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.70, for a total value of $117,426.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CDP. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 813.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,247,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,371,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563,548 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $52,679,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $45,718,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 192.9% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,158,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,847,000 after purchasing an additional 762,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,627,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,911,000 after purchasing an additional 741,765 shares in the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CDP stock opened at $27.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.79. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $23.47 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. The business had revenue of $187.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.60%.

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.