Brokerages Set Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) Target Price at $5.22

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.22.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas lowered Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Colliers Securities upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medical Properties Trust

In related news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman purchased 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.01 per share, for a total transaction of $48,602.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,740 shares in the company, valued at $461,207.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Medical Properties Trust news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman purchased 8,087 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 76,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $461,207.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $89,921.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,310.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $25,655,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 109,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 4,309 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 679,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,337,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,672 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 46,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 3,786 shares during the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $5.77 on Friday. Medical Properties Trust has a 1 year low of $2.92 and a 1 year high of $6.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.06 and its 200 day moving average is $4.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.75). The firm had revenue of $266.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $259.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.41%.

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.