MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Falls 2.4% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares fell 2.4% on Monday. The company traded as low as $37.30 and last traded at $37.3770. 5,383,239 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 6,360,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MP. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.93 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.24. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The company 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 business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,230,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,408,000 after buying an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,580,000 after buying an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,355,000 after buying an additional 225,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at $10,648,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company focused on restoring and expanding a fully integrated rare earth supply chain in the United States. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, one of the largest rare earth production sites in the Western Hemisphere.

MP Materials primarily produces rare earth concentrate containing neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in high-strength permanent magnets. These magnets are important components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, defense systems, and other advanced technologies.