ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 8,268 COPT Defense Properties $CDP

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,945,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,047,000 after acquiring an additional 38,916 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,403,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,277,000 after purchasing an additional 245,440 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 711,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,412,000 after purchasing an additional 63,978 shares during the period.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:CDP opened at $28.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.97 and its 200 day moving average is $27.86. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $23.92 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 2.96.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.01. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 19.23%.The company had revenue of $175.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. COPT Defense Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. COPT Defense Properties has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.660-0.680 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.650-2.690 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other COPT Defense Properties news, Director Lisa G. Trimberger sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.52, for a total value of $91,560.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CDP. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.57.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.