Medical Properties Trust, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th.

Medical Properties Trust has raised its dividend by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years. Medical Properties Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 228.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Medical Properties Trust to earn $0.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.1%.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MPW traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.31. 9,829,064 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,692,908. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.90. Medical Properties Trust has a 1 year low of $2.92 and a 1 year high of $6.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman bought 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.01 per share, for a total transaction of $48,602.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 76,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,207.40. This trade represents a 11.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MPW. Colliers Securities raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

About Medical Properties Trust

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.