MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 3.2% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 3.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $55.60 and last traded at $56.6570. Approximately 4,712,308 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 6,683,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MP. Wedbush raised their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Down 5.7%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51. The firm has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -157.65 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the sale, 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, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 1.8% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors 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.