MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $53.50 and last traded at $53.87. 5,551,389 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 6,667,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush increased their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -158.44 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.29. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The business’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock valued at $39,028,272. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,230,000. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd lifted its position in MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.