Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $2.31 Million Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 41,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,305,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in MP Materials by 26.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after buying an additional 49,052 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This represents a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.2%

MP Materials stock opened at $54.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 9.51 and a quick ratio of 8.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of -160.05 and a beta of 1.94. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $37.81 and a 12-month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

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.