MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3.6% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.28 and last traded at $18.98. Approximately 1,050,868 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 3,735,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.4%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.77 and its 200 day moving average is $22.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.60 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $13,115,104.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $405,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 214,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,799,924. The trade was a 6.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 943,792 shares of company stock worth $25,286,567. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JT Stratford LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 63,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in MP Materials by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in MP Materials by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.