MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 3.7% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $60.15 and last traded at $59.3250. 5,110,669 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 7,863,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67. The firm has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.09 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 12.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.