First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 24,839 Shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 128,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 24,839 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Medical Properties Trust were worth $506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,385,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,471,000 after buying an additional 18,957 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 694.8% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 215,923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 188,757 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 66,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 11,044 shares in the last quarter. Broyhill Asset Management bought a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 17,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 6,086 shares during the period. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MPW has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $9.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $5.24 on Friday. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $6.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.82.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $223.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.80 million. The firm’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.55%.

Medical Properties Trust 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.