MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Given Buy Rating at DA Davidson

MP Materials (NYSE:MP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $82.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson’s price objective points to a potential upside of 35.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 7.3%

Shares of NYSE:MP traded down $4.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,176,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,967,793. MP Materials has a 52 week low of $23.26 and a 52 week high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.75 and a beta of 1.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.76.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $3,229,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,429,219.70. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207 over the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $82,531,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 168.4% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in MP Materials by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its stake in MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.