Medical Properties Trust Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MPW)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 118,883 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 120% compared to the typical volume of 54,027 put options.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE MPW opened at $4.96 on Friday. Medical Properties Trust has a one year low of $2.92 and a one year high of $6.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.14 and its 200-day moving average is $4.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.23, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.29.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.75). The company had revenue of $266.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Medical Properties Trust to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Colliers Securities raised shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.50 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 68,653 shares in the company, valued at $341,891.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $49,924.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 68,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,891.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman purchased 8,087 shares of Medical Properties Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.01 per share, with a total value of $48,602.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,207.40. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 63,335 shares of company stock worth $318,825 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 22.1% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 793,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,418,000 after purchasing an additional 143,309 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 87.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 648,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,045,000 after acquiring an additional 302,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 91.5% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 183,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 87,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.