MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $64.08 and last traded at $65.2260. Approximately 5,021,694 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,070,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MP. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush raised their price target 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. Barclays began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The company has a market cap of $11.61 billion, a PE ratio of -155.30 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.33.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $11,540,254.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,205,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $794,974,500.45. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382 in the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew 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 holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,519,000 after purchasing an additional 459,213 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after purchasing an additional 769,517 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.