MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 1.7% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $62.28 and last traded at $61.35. Approximately 5,194,572 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 7,033,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.31.

More MP Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on MP Materials after its Q1 results: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $70 from $62 and kept an Overweight rating, while Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $70 from $65 and reiterated a Buy rating. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials continues to benefit from strong fundamental execution, including a Q1 earnings beat and 49.1% year-over-year revenue growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term rare-earth growth story. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Wedbush increased their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have 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, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of -146.07 and a beta of 1.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.81 and a 200 day moving average of $59.37. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during 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%.MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $11,540,254.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,205,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,974,500.45. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382 over the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.