MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price rose 2.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $56.02 and last traded at $55.6680. 6,297,746 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 6,679,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Up 2.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a PE ratio of -163.72 and a beta of 1.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.19. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during 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.