Bernzott Capital Advisors Grows Stock Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Bernzott Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,782 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,208 shares during the quarter. MP Materials accounts for about 4.0% of Bernzott Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Bernzott Capital Advisors owned approximately 0.10% of MP Materials worth $8,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,519,000 after acquiring an additional 459,213 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,325,000 after acquiring an additional 769,517 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about MP Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on MP Materials (MP) to $71.50 from $70 and kept an overweight rating, signaling confidence in further upside for the stock. Morgan Stanley price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $61 from $70 but still maintained a buy rating, implying analysts still see meaningful upside from current levels. Deutsche Bank price target update
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials’ lawsuit against USA Rare Earth highlights the company’s strategic position in rare earth magnet technology, and China’s tighter export controls may strengthen the investment case for U.S.-based suppliers over time. MP Materials sues USA Rare Earth over magnet technology
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry coverage also noted that a shortage of specialized engineers could slow the U.S. rare earth buildout, which is relevant to MP Materials but does not directly change near-term fundamentals. Rare earth talent crunch article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.54.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $51.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -123.30 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $42.86 and a 52 week high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.40.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.