MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $46.80 and last traded at $47.2770. Approximately 7,539,759 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 6,614,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.73. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of -112.56 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. On average, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,952,414.55. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd 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 lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,230,000. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.