MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.4% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price fell 5.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $52.42 and last traded at $54.4970. 9,511,006 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 35% from the average session volume of 7,020,776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MP. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.75 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.77. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,251,167 shares of company stock valued at $82,131,654. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. lifted its holdings 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 during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.