South Dakota Investment Council Grows Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 516.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 51,809 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,400 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in MP Materials by 26.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 49,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first 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 holdings in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the first 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. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Trading Up 9.3%

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $41.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.32. The company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of -99.18 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $100.25. 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 posted 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. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wedbush boosted their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.35.

More MP Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan maintains an “overweight” rating: JPMorgan Chase lowered its price target for MP Materials from $75 to $60 but still sees substantial upside from the current level. The continued overweight rating suggests the bank believes the rare-earths producer’s longer-term prospects remain attractive despite the reduced valuation target. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings are expected to improve: Zacks reports that analysts expect MP Materials’ earnings to grow in the upcoming report. However, the company does not currently have the combination of factors that Zacks considers supportive of a likely earnings beat, leaving the immediate earnings catalyst uncertain. MP Materials earnings expectations
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst downgraded the stock: A Seeking Alpha analysis advised investors to “wait for a better entry point,” reflecting concerns over valuation or near-term execution risks even after the recent share-price weakness. MP Materials rating downgrade analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer comparison offers limited immediate direction: A report comparing MP Materials with Atlas Lithium reviews the companies’ investment profiles but does not identify a specific new catalyst for MP Materials. Atlas Lithium and MP Materials comparison

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.