Last year was a brutal period for Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW). Shares of the healthcare REIT lost more than half their value due to rising interest rates and concerns about some of its tenants' ability to pay rent. That sinking stock price pushed its dividend yield well above 8%.

The REIT recently got some great news. Its top tenant, Steward Health Care System, agreed to sell its Utah care sites. That deal will give Steward a cash infusion to repay debt, including money owed to Medical Properties Trust. Meanwhile, the REIT will get a healthier tenant for its properties in that state. Those factors put its big-time dividend on a much firmer foundation.

Steward Health Care has agreed to sell its Utah care sites to CommonSpirit Health, which includes five hospitals in the state. As part of that agreement, a subsidiary of CommonSpirit has agreed to lease the hospitals from Medical Properties Trust. The initial 15-year lease will begin at a rental rate of 7.8% of Medical Properties Trust's $1.2 billion gross investment in the properties and increase by 3% per year.

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Source Fool.com