MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 2.1% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price fell 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $56.50 and last traded at $57.0080. 3,663,068 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 6,916,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wedbush boosted their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.73 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.68.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 in the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.