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

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares fell 5.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $51.84 and last traded at $51.93. 14,196,975 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 10,797,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $69.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.80.

MP Materials Trading Up 12.8%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a PE ratio of -82.52 and a beta of 2.26.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.42% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total transaction of $10,803,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,284,409 shares in the company, valued at $92,503,136.18. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in MP Materials in the second quarter valued at about $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 19,314.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,987,000 after buying an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,288,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.