MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded up 3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $51.63 and last traded at $51.22. 4,070,683 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 7,403,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of -98.50 and a beta of 1.67.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The company’s revenue was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,006,616. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

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.