MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 4.3% Higher – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price traded up 4.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.60 and last traded at $19.59. 2,165,463 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 3,746,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MP shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.61.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.20 and a beta of 2.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day moving average is $22.01.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The firm 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%. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,799,924. This represents a 6.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 161,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.94, for a total transaction of $4,342,054.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,352,689 shares in the company, valued at $386,661,441.66. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. JT Stratford LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in MP Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MP Materials

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.