MP Materials’ (MP) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

MP Materials (NYSE:MP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at DA Davidson in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $82.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 46.52% from the company’s previous close.

MP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP traded up $1.03 on Wednesday, reaching $55.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,673,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,998,268. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $18.64 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -133.20 and a beta of 1.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.70 and its 200 day moving average is $59.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MP Materials will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $11,540,254.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,205,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $794,974,500.45. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382 in the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,034,000. South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 516.1% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 51,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 43,400 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,580,000 after acquiring an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 164,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,917,000 after acquiring an additional 30,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.