MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $65.80 and last traded at $66.5520. Approximately 10,493,483 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 9,975,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Up 3.4%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.44 and its 200 day moving average is $62.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The company has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of -97.13 and a beta of 1.62.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. The firm had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 420.0% in 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 period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in MP Materials by 168.7% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 181.3% during the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.