Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) gapped up prior to trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $3.99, but opened at $4.83. Medical Properties Trust shares last traded at $4.77, with a volume of 21,165,016 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.99%. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -63.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MPW. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Colliers Securities downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $4.25 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.48.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 2.5 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the 4th quarter worth $25,655,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,158,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $774,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800,294 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 880.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,951,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,536,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548,423 shares during the period. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $32,630,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 175.3% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,850,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

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.