MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Falls 2.4% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 2.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $37.57 and last traded at $38.5340. 5,901,665 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 6,379,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MP Materials from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.41. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of -113.33 and a beta of 1.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The firm had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in MP Materials by 390.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Markowski Investments acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 990.1% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company focused on restoring and expanding a fully integrated rare earth supply chain in the United States. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, one of the largest rare earth production sites in the Western Hemisphere.

MP Materials primarily produces rare earth concentrate containing neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in high-strength permanent magnets. These magnets are important components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, defense systems, and other advanced technologies.