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

Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.46.

Several analysts have recently commented on MPW shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Raymond James downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Medical Properties Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, October 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPW. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 45,467 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 12,695 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 1,029.8% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 660,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,426,000 after purchasing an additional 601,645 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 18.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 313,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 48,741 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 599.2% in the first quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 93,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 79,951 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 565,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,649,000 after buying an additional 64,488 shares during the period. 76.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 7.4 %

NYSE:MPW opened at $5.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.07, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.64. Medical Properties Trust has a 12-month low of $4.44 and a 12-month high of $14.00.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 14th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 13th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -857.14%.

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 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents.