MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 8.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) rose 8.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $59.80 and last traded at $59.78. Approximately 2,916,747 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 6,636,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Up 9.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.86. The company has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -177.14 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the 3rd 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,519,000 after buying an additional 459,213 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after buying an additional 769,517 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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 valued at $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is 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.