MPW Stock Recent News

When you're buying income stocks, a company's underlying business is arguably still the most crucial factor to consider, even more than the dividend yield. Corporations with high yields may look attractive, but sometimes these are unsustainable.

It's been an interesting few years for Medical Properties Trust (MPW 2.63%), and not in a good way. But in this video, longtime Fool.com contributors Matt Frankel and Tyler Crowe discuss why the bleeding might finally have stopped.

While most of Wall Street focuses on large and mega-cap stocks, as they provide a degree of safety and liquidity, many investors are limited in the number of shares they can buy.

Prospect's bankruptcy is not a negligible impact, as it can lead to a 10% loss in revenues for MPW. Rent coverage analysis gives reasons for caution with other tenants in MPW's portfolio. Declining revenues in the broader tail of operators shows MPW's issues to be broad-based across the portfolio. A large, fixed-rates debt burden is an overhang. And MPW is relying on higher cost funding in order to raise the money needed for debt principal payments.

Last year was another strong one for the stock market. The S&P 500 was up 23%, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied nearly 29%.

Medical Properties (MPW) has been one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com users lately. So, it is worth exploring what lies ahead for the stock.

U.S. equity and bond markets posted their best week since the November election, as benchmark interest rates tumbled after inflation data showed surprisingly muted pressures in December. Closing the books on the Biden era, the Trump Administration assumes the reins next week of a U.S. economy that has seemingly "held it together" through a myriad of headwinds. The worst four years of inflation and the first decline in "real" consumer incomes since the late 1970s paradoxically coincided with a robust period of job growth and historically low unemployment.

The big draw with regard to Medical Properties Trust (MPW 2.25%) today is its lofty 8% dividend yield. But this is a signal of a high level of risk in what amounts to a turnaround story, as the real estate investment trust (REIT) continues to deal with troubled tenants.

Medical Properties Trust's tenant, Prospect Medical, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but shares rose 7.8% as the market anticipated this and viewed it as de-risking. Despite Prospect's issues, Medical Properties Trust's exposure is limited, with Prospect accounting for only 6.8% of total assets and no recent rent payments. Medical Properties Trust aims to protect its California hospitals and complete the sale of Prospect's Connecticut facilities, expecting minimal impairments on its $509.7 million assets.

Medical Properties Trust (MPW -3.15%) got off to a challenging start last year. In January, the real estate investment trust (REIT) revealed that its top tenant at the time, Steward Health Care, was experiencing liquidity issues, which impacted its ability to pay rent.