WMS Group LLC Takes $557,000 Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 11,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Financial Consulate Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 106.2% in the third quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.1%

MP stock opened at $60.83 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $29.58 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of -144.83 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.66.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MP. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wedbush lifted 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, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

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.