MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 4% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded down 4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $65.80 and last traded at $66.5520. 10,493,483 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 9,975,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The company has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.74 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.54.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in MP Materials by 1.7% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 4.7% in the third quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.