MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 6.1% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares dropped 6.1% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $39.05 and last traded at $39.8210. 10,038,194 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 56% from the average daily volume of 6,426,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MP shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -117.42 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,543,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% during 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 during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 135.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 39,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 22,958 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $557,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in MP Materials by 5.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,408,000 after buying an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is 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.