MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.9091.

Several equities analysts recently commented on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa America raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 691,557 shares of company stock valued at $43,538,586. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 46,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 4,018 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 6.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,043,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,463,000 after acquiring an additional 64,843 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter valued at about $962,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in MP Materials by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,657,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,455,000 after purchasing an additional 703,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MP Materials by 221.9% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,972,000 after purchasing an additional 168,648 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MP opened at $53.48 on Friday. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $15.56 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25. The company has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of -75.32 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.