MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 4.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 4.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $39.91 and last traded at $41.2840. 7,007,622 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 6,555,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.42.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.3%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.78. The stock has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -98.30 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18.

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

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,855,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its holdings in MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after buying an additional 887,148 shares in 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.