MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 3% on Monday. The company traded as low as $38.93 and last traded at $38.9480. Approximately 3,967,897 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 6,412,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on MP Materials from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of -114.55 and a beta of 1.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,408,000 after purchasing an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 32.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,355,000 after purchasing an additional 225,009 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 564,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,635,000 after purchasing an additional 8,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in MP Materials by 32.5% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 509,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,562,000 after buying an additional 124,945 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company focused on restoring and expanding a fully integrated rare earth supply chain in the United States. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, one of the largest rare earth production sites in the Western Hemisphere.

MP Materials primarily produces rare earth concentrate containing neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in high-strength permanent magnets. These magnets are important components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, defense systems, and other advanced technologies.