MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 4.3% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price traded up 4.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $65.60 and last traded at $64.4160. 6,805,147 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 7,075,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.74.

MP Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays started coverage of MP Materials (NYSE: MP) with a Buy rating and $69 price target, adding to already bullish analyst sentiment and suggesting Wall Street expects further upside. MP Stock Stays Perfect but Trading Has Been Strange Lately
• Positive Sentiment: MP’s chief operating officer bought 17,000 shares, a sign of insider confidence that can support investor sentiment. Michael Stuart Rosenthal Purchases 17,000 Shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Rare-earth stocks have been rebounding on funding news and fading concerns that China’s supply constraints are easing, which has helped sentiment across the group, including MP Materials. Rare Earth Stocks Rally On Funding News, Fading China Fears

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wedbush raised their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Up 4.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -153.37 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $11,540,254.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,205,965 shares in the company, valued at $794,974,500.45. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BankChampaign National Association purchased a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter worth about $477,000. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter worth about $1,034,000. South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in MP Materials by 516.1% in the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 51,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 43,400 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in MP Materials by 260.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,580,000 after acquiring an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 41.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.