Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Medical Properties Trust by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 376,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 378,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 18,916 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,655,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $86,000. 71.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medical Properties Trust

In other Medical Properties Trust news, Director Elizabeth N. Pitman sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total transaction of $49,924.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,653 shares in the company, valued at $341,891.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.53% of the company’s stock.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

NYSE:MPW opened at $4.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.27. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2.92 and a 52-week high of $7.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.66 and a 200 day moving average of $4.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.10.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.75). The business had revenue of $266.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $259.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.30%. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is -14.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MPW. StockNews.com lowered Medical Properties Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas lowered Medical Properties Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $4.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.86.

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.