MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 1.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 1.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $52.95 and last traded at $52.27. Approximately 2,726,316 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 6,658,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.54.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.48 and a 200-day moving average of $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.45 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 in the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,227,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its stake in MP Materials by 84.1% during the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after purchasing an additional 54,031 shares during the last quarter. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,184,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $2,451,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.