MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.9091.

MP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 971,557 shares of company stock valued at $61,630,802. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $58.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of -81.69 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.92. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $18.64 and a 1 year high of $100.25.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.