Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $939,000 Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,211 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,822 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 52,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 204.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 167.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 22,473 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 54,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 29,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 3,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $20.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.98 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $29.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.00.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson increased their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.