MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $34.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.61.

MP Materials Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of MP opened at $25.86 on Thursday. MP Materials has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $29.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of -43.84 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.14. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The company had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 943,792 shares of company stock worth $25,286,567 in the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $687,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 314.6% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 7,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 5,467 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,839,000 after buying an additional 1,257,282 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,953,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 5,181 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

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.