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 report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $6.50 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

MPW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Medical Properties Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, May 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Medical Properties Trust from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $5.22.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Shares of MPW stock opened at $6.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.28. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $2.92 and a twelve month high of $6.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.93, a current 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) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C Reynolds Thompson III sold 20,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $89,921.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,310.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $341,891.94. The sale 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 378,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 18,916 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,655,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Medical Properties Trust by 87.3% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 648,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 302,000 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.