MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.1% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were down 5.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.22 and last traded at $22.33. 666,121 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,146,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MP shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.0 %

The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.99 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.71 million. Sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter valued at $1,042,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 119,900.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 24,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 40.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 3,618.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 140,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,426,000 after purchasing an additional 136,583 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.