Medical Properties Trust (MPW) Stock in December 2025: Dividend Hike, 50%+ Rebound and a High‑Risk 2026 Outlook

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE: MPW) has gone from market punchline to one of 2025’s most hotly debated turnaround stories in real estate. After a brutal drawdown driven by tenant bankruptcies and balance‑sheet worries, the healthcare REIT has staged a powerful rebound — but the recovery is still very much “under construction.”

As of December 6, 2025, MPW trades around $5.50 per share, up more than 50% from its 52‑week low of $3.51, with a market capitalization near $3.3–3.4 billion. ^[1]
A new 6%+ dividend yield, a fresh $150 million buyback, and visible progress on troubled tenants Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical have pulled in bargain hunters — even as many analysts still carry “Reduce” or “Sell” ratings. ^[2]

This article walks through the latest news, forecasts and analyses as of December 6, 2025, and what they imply for MPW’s 2026–2028 outlook.

Where MPW Stock Stands Today

Share price: about $5.48 (intraday low) to $5.64 (intraday high) on December 6, 2025.
52‑week range:$3.51 – $6.34. ^[3]
Market cap: roughly $3.3–3.4 billion. ^[4]
Dividend yield: with a new quarterly dividend of $0.09, the annualized payout of $0.36 implies a yield of around 6–6.5% at current prices. ^[5]
Recent performance: Zacks and other outlets point to a ~28% gain over the past three months, highlighting MPW as a momentum‑driven high‑yield play. ^[6]

In other words: the market has already repriced MPW off the floor, but the stock is still trading in what many investors consider “distressed REIT” territory rather than a sleepy bond‑proxy.

The Big November Surprise: Dividend Hike and Share Buyback

The turning point for sentiment in late 2025 was a surprisingly aggressive capital‑return announcement.

On November 17, 2025, MPW’s board:

Raised the regular quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09 per share — a 12–12.5% increase.
Set a payment date of January 8, 2026, for shareholders of record on December 11, 2025. ^[7]
Highlighted a newly announced $150 million common share repurchase program, positioned as a way to capitalize on what management views as a disconnect between intrinsic value and the stock price. ^[8]

CEO Edward Aldag framed the move as a vote of confidence in “portfolio strength and cash‑flow potential in the year ahead”, while outside commentary generally agreed the increase was symbolically important:

Seeking Alpha’s coverage dubbed it a “huge dividend surprise,” arguing that the combination of the hike and the buyback underscores management’s belief that the turnaround is real and that FFO covers the dividend. ^[9]
Motley Fool and Zacks echoed the idea that MPW is “finally healthy again,” pointing to improved tenant diversification, asset sales and higher rent collections as the pillars supporting the raise. ^[10]

Still, more sober fundamental analysts warn the move doesn’t erase the structural risks around leverage and tenant quality; it mainly signals that short‑term liquidity fears have eased.

Q3 2025 Earnings: Stabilization, Not Victory

MPW’s Q3 2025 results, released October 30, 2025, were messy but directionally better than many feared:

Revenue: about $237.5 million, modestly below consensus by roughly $8 million. ^[11]
FFO (Funds From Operations): around $0.15 per share, roughly in line with expectations, and enough to comfortably cover the new $0.09 dividend. ^[12]
GAAP EPS: a net loss (around –$0.13 per share), largely due to non‑cash impairment charges and accounting noise linked to tenant restructurings. ^[13]

Commentary from the earnings call and follow‑up pieces focused on three themes: ^[14]

Cash rent trends are improving.
- Collections from re‑tenanted Steward facilities and other formerly distressed assets moved higher, supporting FFO.
Portfolio recycling is real.
- Management is actively selling non‑core or low‑rent properties and reinvesting into debt reduction, selective growth, and now shareholder returns.
The full recovery is back‑loaded.
- Many new leases — especially on ex‑Steward properties — are structured to ramp up over 2025–2026, so the strongest cash‑flow uplift is still ahead rather than in the rear‑view mirror.

Overall, Q3 didn’t turn MPW into a pristine, low‑risk REIT, but it lowered the odds of a near‑term liquidity crisis and gave management enough confidence to start raising the dividend instead of cutting it yet again.

Steward Health Care: Global Settlement and a 2026 Cash‑Flow Ramp

The Steward Health Care bankruptcy has loomed over MPW for years. Steward was once nearly 20% of MPW’s rent, and its failure was widely seen as an existential threat.

On September 11, 2024, MPW announced a global settlement that effectively:

Restored MPT’s control over 23 hospitals previously operated by Steward.
Installed four new operators (including HonorHealth, Quorum Health and others) across 15 hospitals in Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas. ^[15]
Set up long‑term triple‑net leases with a weighted average initial term of about 18 years.

Crucially, the economics of the new leases look like this: ^[16]

No cash rent due for the rest of 2024 (to facilitate the transition).
Rent ramp during 2025, expected to reach about 50% of fully stabilized rent by year‑end 2025.
Full stabilization targeted for Q4 2026, at roughly $160 million in annualized cash rent on a $2.0 billion lease base — about 95% of what Steward would have owed at that time.

On paper, that means MPW eventually recovers almost all of the lost Steward cash flow while arguably upgrading operator quality. In practice, the risk has merely changed shape:

MPW is exposed to the execution risk of several new operators ramping up operations at hospitals that were previously under financial and operational stress.
Cash flows are front‑end light and back‑end heavy: debt service is immediate, while much of the new rent arrives only in 2026.

The Steward deal is still one of the main reasons bullish analysts see MPW as a multi‑year recovery trade rather than a terminally impaired REIT.

Prospect Medical: Bankruptcy, Yale Settlement and DIP Loan Repayment

The other major problem tenant, Prospect Medical Holdings, is still working through its own restructuring.

Key developments in 2025:

A $45 million settlement with Yale New Haven Health: Yale will pay $45 million to Prospect and MPW in exchange for being released from its obligation to buy three Connecticut hospitals. MPW expects those funds to pay down a $105 million debtor‑in‑possession (DIP) loan it extended to Prospect. ^[17]
MPW has indicated that, once the Yale payment and associated hospital sales close, it expects full repayment of the DIP loan, leaving only a conditional $30 million commitment tied to litigation proceeds and other collateral. ^[18]
Separately, MPW recently sold two Phoenix facilities for about $50 million, properties that were generating “nominal” cash rent, and plans to use proceeds (including the DIP repayment) for debt reduction and general corporate purposes. ^[19]

On the ground, court filings and local reporting out of Connecticut paint a picture of highly stressed hospitals and communities:

A Texas judge approved a deal to settle $21 million in overdue taxes and utilities owed by Prospect’s Waterbury Hospital for just $8.8 million, with MPW reportedly covering the bulk of that settlement. ^[20]
Earlier coverage of Prospect noted that it had skipped rent payments to MPW, was under investigation by multiple state regulators, and had considered restructuring long before the current Chapter 11 process. ^[21]

The Yale settlement and expected DIP repayment materially reduce MPW’s direct credit exposure to Prospect, but the properties themselves may continue to face regulatory, political and operating risks under any successor operator.

Balance Sheet: Leverage Still the Elephant in the Room

Even with better tenant trends, MPW’s capital structure remains aggressive.

Simply Wall St’s latest balance‑sheet snapshot (data updated through early December 2025) shows: ^[22]

Total assets: about $14.9 billion
Total liabilities: about $10.3 billion
Total debt: roughly $9.6 billion
Shareholders’ equity: around $4.7 billion
Debt‑to‑equity ratio: a hefty ~206%
Interest coverage: EBIT covers interest only about 1.2x
Operating cash‑flow coverage of debt: around 1.5%, indicating that MPW relies heavily on refinancing and asset sales rather than organic cash flow to manage debt.

Short‑term liquidity looks adequate — short‑term assets exceed short‑term liabilities — but the structural leverage means:

Rising or persistently high interest rates could pressure FFO as debt reprices.
Any disappointment in rent recovery or asset‑sale proceeds could make it harder to hit leverage‑reduction targets.

To address that, MPW has:

Filed a $500 million follow‑on equity offering (August 2025). ^[23]
Sold non‑core assets, including multiple facilities in California, New Jersey and Arizona over 2024–2025. ^[24]
Announced the $150 million buyback, which paradoxically improves per‑share metrics but competes with debt reduction for cash. ^[25]

This is why some research providers continue to flag leverage and interest coverage as the core bear thesis, even while acknowledging better rent trends.

What Wall Street and Quant Sites Are Saying

Analyst ratings and price targets

MarketBeat’s latest summary shows: ^[26]

Consensus rating:“Reduce”
Rating mix: 1 Buy, 3 Hold, 2 Sell
Consensus 12‑month price target: about $5.63, only slightly above the current share price.

Recent rating actions highlight just how divided opinion is:

Several upgrades in November — including pieces titled “Accelerating Recovery Justifies A Rating Upgrade” and “Latest Dividend Raise Foretells Stability” — argue that Q3 results plus the dividend hike justify moving from Sell to Hold. ^[27]
Others reiterate Sell or Strong Sell, emphasizing that leverage remains high and that the rally has already priced in much of the good news. ^[28]

Fundamental forecasts and fair‑value estimates

Simply Wall St’s narrative forecast for MPW projects: ^[29]

Revenue of about $1.1 billion and earnings of roughly $136.7 million by 2028.
Implied revenue growth around 3.1% per year, but from a depressed base with large reported losses.
A DCF‑based fair value estimate of roughly $5.00 per share, broadly in line with today’s market price.

It also notes:

11 community fair‑value estimates for MPW ranging from $5 to $13.43 per share, underscoring how uncertain investors are about the long‑term trajectory. ^[30]

Separately, a discounted cash‑flow analysis cited by Yahoo Finance in an article titled “Is Medical Properties Trust Attractive After 43% Rally and Property Sale Headlines?” suggested the stock could be roughly 20% undervalued, even after its sharp move off the lows. ^[31]

In plain English: valuation models range from “modestly cheap” to “deep value”, depending on how generously you treat rent recovery, asset sales and refinancing terms.

Market Activity: Hedge Funds, Options and Retail Flows

News flow around trading activity has been just as busy as the fundamental coverage: ^[32]

Institutional flows are mixed.
- Firms like Legal & General, Geode Capital and Bank of New York Mellon have reported trimming their MPW positions.
- Others, including Strs Ohio, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co., SG Americas and quantitative fund Quantbot Technologies, have disclosed new or increased stakes.
Options markets have heated up.
- MarketBeat and AmericanBankingNews flagged unusually high call and put option volumes in late November, often associated with speculative bets on continued volatility.
Retail interest remains strong.
- MPW frequently appears in “high‑yield dividend stock” lists and social‑media discussions, especially after the dividend hike and the stock’s ~28% three‑month rally. ^[33]

This mix suggests MPW has shifted from being primarily a short‑seller battleground to a more two‑sided, speculative income trade, where bulls and bears both feel they have ammunition.

Key Risks Heading Into 2026

Despite the improving narrative, several non‑trivial risks remain:

Leverage and refinancing risk
- With a debt‑to‑equity ratio above 200% and interest coverage near 1x, MPW is far more fragile than blue‑chip REITs if credit spreads widen or asset sales slow. ^[34]
Execution risk on re‑tenanted hospitals
- The Steward portfolio needs to ramp cash rent to ~$160 million by late 2026. Any operational or regulatory setbacks for new operators could push that timeline out or force concessions. ^[35]
Prospect and other tenant restructurings
- While the Yale settlement and DIP repayment are positives, Prospect’s hospitals in Connecticut and elsewhere still face significant operational and political uncertainty. ^[36]
Regulatory and headline risk
- The Steward saga attracted scrutiny of sale‑leaseback models in healthcare, and policymakers could revisit rules around private‑equity‑backed hospital chains and their landlords. ^[37]
Dividend sustainability
- The new dividend is well covered by current FFO, and Seeking Alpha’s analysis notes that MPW’s “dividend cushion” ratio has moved back above 1x. Still, that cushion depends on successful rent ramp‑up and refinancing over the next two years. ^[38]

Investment Outlook: A Speculative Turnaround REIT, Not a Sleepy Bond Proxy

Putting it all together:

The good news
- The worst‑case bankruptcy scenarios around Steward and Prospect now look less likely than they did in 2023–2024. ^[39]
- Q3 results, asset‑sale progress and the dividend hike + buyback signal that liquidity is under control for now. ^[40]
- At current prices, MPW offers a headline yield north of 6%, with potential for gradual FFO growth as rents ramp through 2026–2028. ^[41]
The bad news
- Leverage is still very high, interest coverage is thin, and the business model depends on financially fragile operators in a politically sensitive industry. ^[42]
- Analyst consensus is only “Reduce”, and the average price target is close to the current price, suggesting limited upside in the base case. ^[43]

As of December 6, 2025, MPW is best thought of as a high‑yield, high‑beta turnaround REIT:

Income‑oriented investors with high risk tolerance may see the combination of a 6%+ yield, a recovering rent roll and a multi‑year recovery plan as attractive — provided they are comfortable with substantial volatility and the possibility of further headline shocks.
Conservative dividend investors, by contrast, may find MPW’s leverage, tenant concentration and political risk a poor fit compared with higher‑quality healthcare or net‑lease REITs.

Regardless of stance, the core investment question for 2026 and beyond is simple:

Will MPW successfully convert its Steward and Prospect restructurings, asset sales and balance‑sheet actions into stable, recurring cash flows large enough to tame its debt load — before the cycle or regulators turn against it again?

That answer will determine whether 2025’s rebound was the opening act of a sustained recovery, or just an impressive dead‑cat bounce in one of the market’s most controversial REITs.