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Medical Properties (MPW) Stock Moves -0.39%: What You Should Know

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Medical Properties (MPW - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $20.23, moving -0.39% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.21%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.33%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.49%.

Heading into today, shares of the health care real estate investment trust had gained 1.86% over the past month, lagging the Finance sector's gain of 3% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.85% in that time.

Medical Properties will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Medical Properties is projected to report earnings of $0.47 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 11.9%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $410.32 million, up 13.11% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.87 per share and revenue of $1.64 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.86% and +6.27%, respectively, from last year.

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

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.46% higher. Medical Properties is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Medical Properties's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.86. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.26, so we one might conclude that Medical Properties is trading at a discount comparatively.

We can also see that MPW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.66. 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. REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.88 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 100, putting it in the top 40% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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