MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Upgraded at Needham & Company LLC

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) was upgraded by analysts at Needham & Company LLC to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.9%

MP opened at $68.72 on Monday. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $22.04 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -163.61 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.43 and a 200-day moving average of $59.71.

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

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $3,229,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $762,429,219.70. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.