MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 6.9% – Time to Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MPGet Free Report) shares rose 6.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $65.21 and last traded at $64.9320. Approximately 6,171,691 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 7,084,356 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.08.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MP

MP Materials Trading Up 6.9%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a PE ratio of -124.87 and a beta of 1.67.

MP Materials (NYSE:MPGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 346,000 shares of company stock worth $21,969,816. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

(Get Free Report)

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.

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