Independent Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MP. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE MP opened at $45.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of -109.15 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.82 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.80 and its 200 day moving average is $59.15.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.20% 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.