MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.7% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 5.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $61.52 and last traded at $64.4860. Approximately 14,160,600 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 39% from the average daily volume of 10,178,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The company has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of -90.83 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.78.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 229.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $1,569,000. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $479,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.