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

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 41,204 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,039 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 389.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,171,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,536,000 after acquiring an additional 7,296,680 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 787.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,119,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880,422 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 8,881.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 998,410 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,062,000 after purchasing an additional 987,294 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 211.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,223,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,202,000 after buying an additional 829,945 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,011,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MPW opened at $5.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.90. Medical Properties Trust has a 12-month low of $3.95 and a 12-month high of $6.34.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Medical Properties Trust had a negative return on equity of 14.82% and a negative net margin of 75.76%.The company had revenue of $237.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This is a positive change from Medical Properties Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is currently -30.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.17.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on acquiring, financing, and owning net-leased hospital facilities. Through sale-leaseback transactions, direct acquisitions and recapitalizations, the company provides capital to healthcare operators while maintaining long-term, triple-net lease agreements. Its portfolio encompasses general acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and other healthcare-related real estate assets and is structured to deliver stable, long-duration rental income streams.

Founded in 2003 and based in Birmingham, Alabama, Medical Properties Trust completed its initial public offering in 2004.