Needham & Company LLC Lowers MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Price Target to $73.00

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $81.00 to $73.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 58.25% from the stock’s current price.

MP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.68.

MP Materials Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MP stock opened at $46.13 on Wednesday. MP Materials has a twelve month low of $43.82 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.12. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -109.83 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. 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.