MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price fell 7.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $41.12 and last traded at $41.2640. Approximately 7,489,151 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 6,562,981 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.42.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.25 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

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

MP Materials Company Profile

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.