MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 11.9% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were down 11.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $44.43 and last traded at $45.62. Approximately 11,546,145 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 53% from the average daily volume of 7,531,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Down 11.9%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.51. The company has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.73 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 346,000 shares of company stock worth $22,006,616 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after buying an additional 49,052 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.