MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 8.5% – Still a Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price shot up 8.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $28.29 and last traded at $27.87. 3,068,069 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 4,033,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.61.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.13 and a beta of 2.14. 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 issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.04) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567 in the last ninety days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 99,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after acquiring an additional 294,806 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $159,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 248,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 107,738 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.