MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

by · The Cerbat Gem

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) shares dropped 2.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $52.02 and last traded at $52.0910. Approximately 5,040,876 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 10,603,149 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MP. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Daiwa America raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MP Materials

MP Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -73.37 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.95.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 691,557 shares of company stock valued at $43,538,586 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in MP Materials by 1.7% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% in the third quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 5,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

(Get Free Report)

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.

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