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

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 trading hands.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPW. StockNews.com lowered shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “sell” rating and a $2.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.48.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,046,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,840,168,000 after purchasing an additional 496,833 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 11.7% in the first 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 10.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,479,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,687 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,058,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,476,000 after purchasing an additional 448,118 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,923,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

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 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023.