Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Rating Increased to Outperform at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $9.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $5.00.

MPW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.64.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $5.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.71. Medical Properties Trust has a 1-year low of $3.51 and a 1-year high of $6.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.32.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.36%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Kevin Hanna sold 11,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.72, for a total value of $43,304.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 366,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,364,916.36. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the third quarter valued at about $927,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 21.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,704,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,973,000 after acquiring an additional 303,628 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 285,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 187,500 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 506.8% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 63,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 52,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 353.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,525,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,625,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,245 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.