MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.5357.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 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, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:MP opened at $49.50 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -117.85 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials has a 1-year low of $44.43 and a 1-year 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.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. increased its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.