MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 1.1% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price traded up 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.95 and last traded at $52.27. Approximately 2,726,316 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 6,658,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.54.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of -124.45 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.30 and its 200-day moving average is $59.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 over the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,227,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after acquiring an additional 54,031 shares during the period. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $1,184,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,451,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.