MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 2.2% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 2.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $59.26 and last traded at $59.8540. Approximately 4,402,143 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 10,722,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.30 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 194,812 shares in the company, valued at $11,244,548.64. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 653,411 shares of company stock valued at $41,249,826. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 132,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,242,000 after purchasing an additional 6,361 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the first quarter worth $386,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in MP Materials by 9.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 20.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,662,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,503,000 after acquiring an additional 942,105 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.