COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.32 EPS

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32), Zacks reports. COPT Defense Properties had a negative return on equity of 7.52% and a negative net margin of 15.75%. The company had revenue of $189.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

NYSE CDP traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.68. The stock had a trading volume of 208,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,634. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.25. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86 and a beta of 0.99. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $33.05. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CDP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.