MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.69, but opened at $28.48. MP Materials shares last traded at $27.80, with a volume of 1,457,214 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.61.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.46 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.35. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,869,851. The trade was a 20.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $687,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in MP Materials by 314.6% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 7,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,467 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,282 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $4,953,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 5,181 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.