ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Takes $228,000 Position in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CDP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1,732.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 24,313 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 321.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $926,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 11.0% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 763,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,822,000 after acquiring an additional 75,390 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lisa G. Trimberger sold 3,000 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.52, for a total value of $91,560.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.57.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP opened at $28.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.94. COPT Defense Properties has a 1 year low of $23.92 and a 1 year high of $34.22.

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

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.31%.

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.