MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 9.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) rose 9.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $64.95 and last traded at $64.5140. Approximately 11,805,084 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 10,810,007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MP. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Up 9.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.86 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.75 and its 200-day moving average is $64.98.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 in the last ninety days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in MP Materials by 4,600.0% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.