Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.1667.

MPW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPW. Coign Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 11,813 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 6,442 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 464,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Down 1.1%

MPW stock opened at $5.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.36 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $3.95 and a twelve month high of $6.34.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). Medical Properties Trust had a negative return on equity of 14.82% and a negative net margin of 75.76%.The firm had revenue of $237.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -30.51%.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on acquiring, financing, and owning net-leased hospital facilities. Through sale-leaseback transactions, direct acquisitions and recapitalizations, the company provides capital to healthcare operators while maintaining long-term, triple-net lease agreements. Its portfolio encompasses general acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and other healthcare-related real estate assets and is structured to deliver stable, long-duration rental income streams.

Founded in 2003 and based in Birmingham, Alabama, Medical Properties Trust completed its initial public offering in 2004.