Brokerages Set MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) PT at $79.54

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.25.

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.3%

MP Materials stock opened at $45.84 on Thursday. 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 has a 52 week low of $43.82 and a 52 week high of $100.25. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.15 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.15.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. raised its holdings in MP Materials by 555.3% in the 4th 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. 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.