Medical Properties (MPW) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Medical Properties (MPW) closed at $14.36, marking a +0.14% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.13%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.22%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the health care real estate investment trust had lost 20.53% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's loss of 9.02% and the S&P 500's loss of 10.02% in that time.

Medical Properties will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Medical Properties to post earnings of $0.45 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 4.65%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $398.75 million, up 4.44% from the prior-year quarter.

MPW's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.84 per share and revenue of $1.62 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +5.14% and +4.81%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Medical Properties should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% lower within the past month. Medical Properties is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Medical Properties is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.79. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.25, so we one might conclude that Medical Properties is trading at a discount comparatively.

Investors should also note that MPW has a PEG ratio of 0.78 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.19 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 148, putting it in the bottom 42% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MPW in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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