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Medical Properties (MPW) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Medical Properties (MPW - Free Report) closed at $13 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.62% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.34%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.64%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 8.98%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the health care real estate investment trust had gained 8.94% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 3.84% and the S&P 500's gain of 1% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Medical Properties as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Medical Properties to post earnings of $0.43 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 8.51%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $378.6 million, down 7.51% from the prior-year quarter.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Medical Properties. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.14% lower. Medical Properties is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Medical Properties is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.26. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.95.

Also, we should mention that MPW has a PEG ratio of 0.73. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The REIT and Equity Trust - Other was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.03 at yesterday's closing price.

The REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 186, which puts it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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