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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Colliers Securities raised Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPW opened at $4.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -1.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.32. Medical Properties Trust has a 52 week low of $2.92 and a 52 week high of $6.55.

Medical Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -7.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medical Properties Trust

In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman acquired 8,087 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.01 per share, with a total value of $48,602.87. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 76,740 shares in the company, valued at $461,207.40. This represents a 11.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael G. Stewart sold 32,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was 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 $1,207,997.70. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 517,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 112,721 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 22.1% in 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 grew 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 worth $5,183,000 after buying an additional 700,783 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 91.5% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 183,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 87,881 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 8.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,084,981 shares during the period. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.