Medical Properties Trust Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 43,691 call options on the company. This is an increase of 51% compared to the typical volume of 28,936 call options.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

MPW stock opened at $5.67 on Wednesday. Medical Properties Trust has a one year low of $3.51 and a one year high of $6.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $237.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.89 million. Medical Properties Trust had a negative return on equity of 28.80% and a negative net margin of 155.20%.The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is an increase from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -30.51%.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPW. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 5,645 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.50.

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.