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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.50.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 96,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 5,012 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the first quarter worth about $1,451,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 260,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 12,716 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Up 2.2%

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $5.78 on Thursday. Medical Properties Trust has a 52-week low of $3.51 and a 52-week high of $6.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.42 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.68.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $237.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.89 million. Medical Properties Trust had a negative net margin of 155.20% and a negative return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -30.51%.

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.