Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 43,691 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the average daily volume of 28,936 call options.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of MPW traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.63. The stock had a trading volume of 6,108,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,891,483. Medical Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $3.51 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.67.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 28.80% and a negative net margin of 155.20%.The firm had revenue of $237.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This is an increase from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -30.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPW. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 389.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,171,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,536,000 after purchasing an additional 7,296,680 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 787.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,119,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,744,000 after buying an additional 1,880,422 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the first quarter valued at $7,311,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 13.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,020,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,028 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8,881.7% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 998,410 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,062,000 after buying an additional 987,294 shares during the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MPW. Wall Street Zen upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Zacks Research raised Medical Properties Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.50.

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.