MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.31 and last traded at $55.4610. Approximately 5,544,557 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 6,573,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.7%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.38 and its 200-day moving average is $56.58. The company has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -163.12 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. MP Materials’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter worth $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter worth $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 36.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 51,348 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.