COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $40.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. COPT Defense Properties traded as high as $38.90 and last traded at $38.0430, with a volume of 1356064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.24.

CDP has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.25.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other COPT Defense Properties news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 3,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $126,994.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,141.14. The trade was a 50.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On COPT Defense Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1,176.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 20.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 283.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,346 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.85, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.86. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36 and a beta of 0.76.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $197.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.36 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 20.94% and a return on equity of 10.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.390-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.370-0.390 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) is a real estate investment trust organized to own, lease and manage healthcare and life science facilities serving the United States federal government, with a particular focus on Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs tenants. The company was formed in 2016 through a spin-off from Corporate Office Properties Trust, enabling it to concentrate exclusively on medical office buildings and specialized research facilities situated on or near military and federal research campuses.

The company’s portfolio comprises purpose-built, Class A medical office and outpatient specialty clinics, as well as life science laboratories.