MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded down 3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $57.30 and last traded at $58.0310. 6,472,086 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 10,704,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa America upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Down 3.0%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of -81.73 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. The firm had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total value of $1,154,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,244,548.64. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 653,411 shares of company stock worth $41,249,826 in the last 90 days. 12.60% 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. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 132.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after buying an additional 100,915 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $241,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,000. Pinkerton Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $940,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in MP Materials during the first quarter worth about $687,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.