MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Climb 4.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded up 4.3% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $41.71 and last traded at $41.6540. Approximately 6,564,281 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 6,429,126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Trading Up 4.3%

The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of -122.51 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.59 and its 200 day moving average is $54.73. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 company had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in MP Materials by 5.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,408,000 after acquiring an additional 376,519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at about $65,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 32.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,355,000 after purchasing an additional 225,009 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 564,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,635,000 after purchasing an additional 8,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 32.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 509,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,562,000 after purchasing an additional 124,945 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company that owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and processing facility in California. The site produces rare earth concentrate, with a focus on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-strength permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production by developing domestic capabilities to separate rare earth elements and manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.