MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 7.6% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $41.12 and last traded at $41.2640. 7,489,151 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 6,562,981 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $79.42.

MP Materials Trading Down 7.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -98.25 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.74 and its 200-day moving average is $59.02. 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 (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.