MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price was down 2.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $54.28 and last traded at $54.88. 4,166,163 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 6,636,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MP shares. 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 report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.2%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.78. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -161.41 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in MP Materials by 73.3% in the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 52.55% of the stock is 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.