MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.1429.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MP. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $60.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. MP Materials has a 52-week low of $29.58 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.83 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.66.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.04 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.