Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,955 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter worth $2,558,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the third quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the third quarter worth $543,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In other COPT Defense Properties news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE CDP opened at $29.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.03. COPT Defense Properties has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.295 dividend. 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.