Colliers Securities Upgrades Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) to “Buy”

Colliers Securities upgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Colliers Securities currently has $6.50 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Medical Properties Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. BNP Paribas downgraded Medical Properties Trust from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $5.22.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $6.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of -2.87, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.28. Medical Properties Trust has a 12 month low of $2.92 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.70.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.75). The company had revenue of $266.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.41%.

Insider Activity at Medical Properties Trust

In related news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 68,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,891.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Medical Properties Trust news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $89,921.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $341,891.94. 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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $437,373,000 after acquiring an additional 7,084,981 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $25,655,000. Goldentree Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 1st quarter worth $15,966,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,150,378 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,558,000 after buying an additional 1,801,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,439,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,166,000 after buying an additional 1,637,720 shares in the last quarter. 71.79% of the stock is 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.