Peregrine Capital Management LLC Sells 8,100 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Peregrine Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 33.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MP Materials in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 4,600.0% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 500.0% during the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.5%

MP stock opened at $61.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.64 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The company has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.33 and a 200-day moving average of $61.89.

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

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 964,157 shares of company stock worth $61,031,328 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

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.