MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

MP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.42.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. MP Materials has a one year low of $41.12 and a one year high of $100.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -98.25 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MP Materials will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.