MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.3% on Analyst Downgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $73.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $43.71 and last traded at $44.6080. 4,493,319 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 6,562,925 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.68.

MP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.42.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,451,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $449,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.3%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.09. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.21 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.