Flputnam Investment Management Co. Increases Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 160,870 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,470 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $9,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $1,543,000. Amundi increased its stake in MP Materials by 260.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $2,451,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $449,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.7%

MP stock opened at $56.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -165.47 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.82. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $37.81 and a 52 week high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The firm had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush upped their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MP Materials 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.