Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $71.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.57% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on MP. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.09.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $54.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -104.99 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.55. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $18.64 and a 12-month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. Research analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 19,314.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $82,531,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.