MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 10.5% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was up 10.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $34.20 and last traded at $33.76. Approximately 9,971,161 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 129% from the average daily volume of 4,356,755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

MP Materials Stock Up 13.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of -58.84 and a beta of 2.14.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results 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 company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,352,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,661,441.66. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 378,874 shares of company stock worth $10,235,862. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 48.7% in 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 248,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,878,000 after acquiring an additional 107,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.