MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 2.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $68.45 and last traded at $66.7920. Approximately 5,219,654 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 7,052,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.52. 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 capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock valued at $69,329,207. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,227,000. South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth $1,617,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in MP Materials by 84.1% during the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after acquiring an additional 54,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth $3,505,000. 52.55% of the stock is 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.