MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3.4% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was down 3.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.59 and last traded at $64.5730. Approximately 4,997,309 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,032,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MP shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.08.

MP Materials Trading Down 3.4%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.22 and a 200-day moving average of $59.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The stock has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,915,000. South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,617,000. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its stake in MP Materials by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after buying an additional 54,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.