Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) Stock Falls 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPT) dropped 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $1.7150 and last traded at $1.73. Approximately 7,674,179 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 8,382,151 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MPT. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $4.50 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Medical Properties Trust from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $3.80 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.25 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $2.68.

Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.92, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.25.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.02). Medical Properties Trust had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 24.14%. The company had revenue of $250.14 million during the quarter. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.80%.

Institutional Trading of Medical Properties Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $347,673,000. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the second quarter valued at about $118,522,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the second quarter worth about $33,903,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the second quarter worth about $30,483,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Medical Properties Trust during the second quarter worth about $28,285,000. 71.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust is a real estate investment trust that owns and invests in healthcare facilities, with a primary focus on hospitals. The company leases its properties to healthcare operators and may provide financing related to the acquisition or development of medical facilities. Founded in 2003, Medical Properties Trust has built a portfolio of properties serving acute-care, behavioral health, rehabilitation and other healthcare needs. Its investments have included facilities in the United States and international markets.