MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 4.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) rose 4.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $64.08 and last traded at $62.5390. Approximately 12,789,887 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 9,044,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MP shares. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.70. The stock has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 691,557 shares of company stock worth $43,538,586. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 168.7% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 181.3% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.