MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 5.5% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price was down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $55.04 and last traded at $55.3140. Approximately 5,708,760 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 8,986,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MP. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.91 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 723,146 shares of company stock valued at $45,767,276. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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