Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 81,111 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 206% compared to the average daily volume of 26,471 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MPT. Maxim Group started coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.00.

Medical Properties Trust Price Performance

MPT traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $6.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,070,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,413,187. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $3.95 and a twelve month high of $6.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.43.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $270.34 million for the quarter. Medical Properties Trust had a negative net margin of 75.76% and a negative return on equity of 14.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Medical Properties Trust’s payout ratio is presently -30.51%.

About Medical Properties Trust

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.