MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 5.7% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded down 5.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $61.52 and last traded at $64.4860. 14,160,600 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 39% from the average session volume of 10,178,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MP. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.08. The firm has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of -97.97 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 991,557 shares of company stock valued at $62,785,202 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 4,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in MP Materials by 500.0% in the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 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.