Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Trading Up 7.9% – Here’s Why

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)’s stock price traded up 7.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $4.94 and last traded at $4.90. 10,155,157 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 16,908,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Colliers Securities raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.38.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.32.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.75). The company had revenue of $266.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.52%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -7.58%.

Insider Transactions at Medical Properties Trust

In related news, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total transaction of $178,978.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 221,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,997.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman acquired 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.01 per share, with a total value of $48,602.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,207.40. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total value of $178,978.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 221,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,997.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,335 shares of company stock valued at $318,825 over the last 90 days. 1.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,058,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $437,373,000 after buying an additional 7,084,981 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the first quarter worth about $15,966,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 22.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,908,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274,481 shares during the last quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 27.2% in the second quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,376,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,861,000 after purchasing an additional 936,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 378.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 885,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,183,000 after purchasing an additional 700,783 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023.