Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,498,000. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $5,361,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $3,081,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,958,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,702,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CDP. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.86.

Insider Transactions at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of CDP opened at $31.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 2.38. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is currently 96.72%.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

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.