MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares rose 1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $59.00 and last traded at $58.5450. Approximately 3,133,545 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 9,085,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of -82.46 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 723,146 shares of company stock valued at $45,767,276 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.