Medical Properties Trust (MPW 3.99%) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) with over 400 properties in its portfolio, mainly hospitals. It is also geographically diverse, with investments in Europe and South America. Despite the broad healthcare reach, the REIT hasn’t made for a good investment in recent years.
Let’s look at how the stock has performed since 2018 and whether its high dividend has been enough to offset losses for investors.
Where the stock was trading in 2018
On Aug. 31, 2018, Medical Properties stock closed at $15.05. Investing $10,000 at the time would have netted you 664 shares. At Monday’s closing price of $7.01, that investment would now be worth less than $4,700. Overall, that’s a decline of 53%.
If you include the REIT’s dividend in the calculation, however, then that helps to soften the blow. Medical Properties’ total returns during that same time frame…
