Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 279,790 Shares of COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 38.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,001,514 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,790 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $29,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 102.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 59.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1,176.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 810.7% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDP has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CDP opened at $28.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 0.84. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $23.92 and a 52 week high of $31.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.34.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 19.99%.The company had revenue of $188.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. COPT Defense Properties’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.690-2.710 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.670-0.690 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.73%.

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.