MP Materials’ (MP) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $82.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Wedbush raised their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 9.6%

MP stock opened at $59.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.96 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.78 and a 200-day moving average of $59.75. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $23.26 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued 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. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,251,167 shares of company stock worth $82,131,654 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 49,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 51,348 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.