Since the start of the year, Medical Properties Trust shares have jumped more than 50%. That's despite the bankruptcy filing in early January of yet another of its biggest tenants, looming deep cuts to Medicaid funding that are poised to devastate hospitals that predominantly treat elderly and lower-income patients, the saber-rattling rhetoric against MPT of politicians, sell or hold recommendations from 11 out of 12 of the equity analysts, and a credit rating deep in junk territory that ratings agencies have downgraded twice over the past year.
