COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $35.00 and last traded at $34.7610, with a volume of 21525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 2.85 and a current ratio of 2.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.79.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.34). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $200.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.730-2.790 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS. On average, analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other COPT Defense Properties news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 3,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $126,994.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,141.14. This trade represents a 50.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted 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 buying an additional 2,346 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 59.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

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.