MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 5.1% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 5.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $48.96 and last traded at $49.5590. 4,001,135 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 6,634,401 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.54.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.00 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.38.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MP. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. raised its position in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 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.