MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 2.5% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $48.57 and last traded at $49.4960. Approximately 3,191,488 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 6,586,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.54.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -117.85 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,519,000 after purchasing an additional 459,213 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in MP Materials by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after purchasing an additional 769,517 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in MP Materials by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.