MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 3.4% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price traded up 3.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.03 and last traded at $60.1690. 5,854,517 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 10,881,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Jefferies Financial Group raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $69.00 target price on MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.73.

MP Materials Stock Up 3.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of -84.75 and a beta of 2.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.86. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.MP Materials’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total value of $10,803,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,284,409 shares in the company, valued at $92,503,136.18. The trade was a 10.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total value of $15,863,526.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,369,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,786,806.90. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 418,411 shares of company stock valued at $27,820,926. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 132.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100,915 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter valued at $241,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter valued at $168,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $687,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,479,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.