MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 6.1% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price was down 6.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $53.04 and last traded at $53.2120. Approximately 6,523,127 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 10,648,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.37 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 691,557 shares of company stock worth $43,538,586. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 132.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after buying an additional 100,915 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $241,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $168,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,998,000. Finally, Pinkerton Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $940,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.