MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 4.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 4.3% during trading on Friday after Barclays upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $65.60 and last traded at $64.4160. 6,805,147 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 7,075,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.74.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush lifted 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. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More MP Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays initiated coverage of MP Materials with a Buy rating and a $69 price target, reinforcing the broader bullish Wall Street view that has most analysts rating the stock a Buy. MP Stock Stays Perfect but Trading Has Been Strange Lately
• Positive Sentiment: MP’s COO, Michael Stuart Rosenthal, disclosed the purchase of 17,000 shares, a move investors often view as a confidence signal from management. Michael Stuart Rosenthal Buys 17,000 Shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Rare-earth stocks broadly rallied on funding news and fading China fears, which supported MP alongside peers, but the move also reflected sector volatility rather than a company-specific catalyst. Rare Earth Stocks Rally On Funding News, Fading China Fears
• Neutral Sentiment: MP’s latest earnings update showed strong revenue growth and a narrower operating loss, but the company remains unprofitable, keeping investors cautious about the pace of a turnaround. MP’s Operating Losses Continue in Q1: Can It Revert to Profitability?
• Negative Sentiment: A comparison piece argued that Idaho Strategic has the edge over MP Materials thanks to profitability, rising earnings, and a lower valuation, highlighting competitive and valuation concerns for MP. MP Materials vs. IDR: Which Mining Stock Has More Upside?

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,519,000 after buying an additional 459,213 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in MP Materials by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after buying an additional 769,517 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in MP Materials by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Up 4.3%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -153.37 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

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.