Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) Cut to “Neutral” at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $2.25 target price on the stock.

MPT has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $3.80 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $4.50 to $2.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Medical Properties Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $2.68.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Down 9.3%

Medical Properties Trust stock opened at $1.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.50. Medical Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $1.83 and a fifty-two week high of $6.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 3.92.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Medical Properties Trust’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.53 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Medical Properties Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $347,673,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,670,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,903,000. State Street Corp bought a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $118,522,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,596,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.79% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a healthcare-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and invests in healthcare facilities. Its portfolio has historically included hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term acute-care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and other properties used by healthcare providers.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, the company primarily generates income by leasing properties to healthcare operators under long-term agreements.