IFP Advisors Inc Acquires 18,496 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 62.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,913 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,496 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in MP Materials by 132.7% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100,915 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the third quarter worth about $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the third quarter worth about $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the third quarter worth about $1,089,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,006,616. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $50.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $18.64 and a 52 week high of $100.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of -97.36 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.17 and its 200-day moving average is $62.92.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.