Medical Properties (MPW) ended the recent trading session at $4.02, demonstrating a +1.77% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.36%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.16%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the health care real estate investment trust had lost 5.95% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's loss of 5.69% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.36% in that time.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Medical Properties in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.16, indicating a 55.56% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $217.15 million, up 277.44% from the year-ago period.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Medical Properties. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.23% lower. Medical Properties currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Medical Properties is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.81. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 11.53 of its industry.

Investors should also note that MPW has a PEG ratio of 0.73 right now. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.

The REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 136, putting it in the bottom 46% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.

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

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