MP Materials’ (MP) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

MP Materials (NYSE:MP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at DA Davidson in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $82.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson’s target price points to a potential upside of 45.10% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.80.

MP Materials Stock Up 8.8%

Shares of NYSE:MP traded up $4.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,927,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,805,925. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $15.56 and a 12-month high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 3.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.96 and a 200-day moving average of $51.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.56 and a beta of 2.26.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.34% and a negative net margin of 41.87%.The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total transaction of $10,803,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,284,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,503,136.18. This trade represents a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in MP Materials by 19,314.3% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,091 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter worth $34,288,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.