MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Raised to “Moderate Buy” at Needham & Company LLC

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of MP opened at $68.72 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $22.04 and a one year high of $100.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -163.61 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.71.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock valued at $69,329,207. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.