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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.50.

MPW has been the topic of several research reports. Colliers Securities upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price target on the stock in a research note 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 raised their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MPW opened at $4.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of -1.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.91. Medical Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $2.92 and a fifty-two week high of $6.55.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.42%. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is -7.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 221,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,997.70. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,637 shares in the company, valued at $239,310.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 27.8% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 517,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 112,721 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 22.1% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 793,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,418,000 after buying an additional 143,309 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 378.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 885,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,183,000 after buying an additional 700,783 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Medical Properties Trust by 91.5% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 183,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 87,881 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,084,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

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.