MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 7.5% – Here’s Why
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemMP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report)’s share price fell 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $55.05 and last traded at $56.7030. 9,064,835 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 7,055,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.27.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wedbush increased their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MP
MP Materials Trading Down 7.5%
The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.01 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.33.
MP Materials (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.
Insider Transactions at MP Materials
In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 49,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.