MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.5% – Here’s Why

by · The Markets Daily

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $57.50 and last traded at $58.75. 10,364,364 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 10,795,735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MP

MP Materials Stock Down 5.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.75 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.68 and a 200-day moving average of $64.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. MP Materials’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 in the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 181.3% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

(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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