MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 4.5% – Here’s Why

by · The Cerbat Gem

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MPGet Free Report) was up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.12 and last traded at $62.18. Approximately 5,151,424 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 7,124,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.09.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MP Materials

MP Materials Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.58 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.98.

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 business had revenue of $52.69 million during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business’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 owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,531,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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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