Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 32.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 919,083 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 225,009 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.52% of MP Materials worth $44,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after buying an additional 887,148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of MP Materials 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 acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,164,346 shares of company stock worth $76,757,068 in the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MP opened at $45.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.73 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.14. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.82 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Trending Headlines about MP Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target on MP Materials to $65 from $69, but kept an Overweight rating, suggesting analysts still see meaningful upside from current levels. Barclays lowers MP Materials price target but keeps Overweight rating
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials announced it will report second-quarter 2026 results on August 6, which keeps investors focused on upcoming catalysts and could provide clarity on production, costs, and the company’s rare-earth scale-up progress. MP Materials announces date for second quarter 2026 financial results and webcast
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst write-ups highlighted MP’s improving operating performance, strong liquidity, and policy support from the U.S. rare-earth push, but also noted premium valuation and execution risks around project ramp-up. MP Materials stock outlook hinges on rare earth scale-up plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage sentiment remains constructive overall, with an average “Buy” recommendation from analysts, reinforcing a generally favorable outlook. MP Materials receives average recommendation of Buy from brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary also stressed rising costs, incomplete project ramps, and customer/execution uncertainty, which could limit earnings momentum and help explain why MP remains volatile. MP Materials and the U.S. rare earth push are starting to align

MP Materials 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.