MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $39.91 and last traded at $41.2840, with a volume of 7075535 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.42.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.63. The firm has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -98.30 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares in the company, valued at $780,952,414.55. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,307 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 887,148 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.