MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Falls 5.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were down 5.2% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $35.56 and last traded at $35.85. 8,060,461 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average daily volume of 6,325,198 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays cut their price target on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.92.

MP Materials Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -105.44 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.21 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 390.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Markowski Investments bought a new position in MP Materials during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp acquired a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in MP Materials by 990.1% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.