COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Short Interest Down 6.0% in October

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,910,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the October 15th total of 4,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 807,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of COPT Defense Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CDP. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,498,000. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,361,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $1,702,000. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter worth $2,721,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth about $1,637,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CDP has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.86.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CDP opened at $29.84 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.09. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The company had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is currently 96.72%.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements.