Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Medical Properties Trust Call Options (NYSE:MPT)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 17,517 call options on Medical Properties Trust, about 44% above its typical volume, signaling elevated bullish speculation.
• Analyst sentiment remains weak: Weiss Ratings downgraded MPT to sell and RBC cut its price target to $4.50, with the stock carrying a consensus rating of Reduce.
• Financial results and valuation: MPT reported Q1 EPS of $0.05, missing estimates, while its shares recently traded at $4.86 and the company offers a high 7.4% dividend yield.

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPT - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 17,517 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 44% compared to the typical volume of 12,158 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $4.50.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

NYSE MPT traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $4.86. 1,560,084 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,179,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 3.11 and a current ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.82. Medical Properties Trust has a 1 year low of $3.95 and a 1 year high of $6.47. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.14 and a beta of 1.42.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $252.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.59 million. Medical Properties Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 12.59%.Medical Properties Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Medical Properties Trust will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Medical Properties Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently -171.43%.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

Medical Properties Trust, Inc NYSE: MPT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and finances hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Founded in 2003 by Edward K. Aldag Jr., the company’s business model centers on providing real estate capital to healthcare operators through long-term leases, sale-leaseback transactions, build-to-suit developments and mortgage financing. By specializing in healthcare real estate, MPT aims to deliver steady rental income and asset-based returns while enabling operators to access capital for clinical operations and growth.

The company’s portfolio primarily comprises acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care facilities, behavioral health centers and other specialty hospitals.

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