MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 2.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $51.34 and last traded at $51.0460. Approximately 5,581,364 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 6,506,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of -141.68 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.97 and a 200 day moving average of $55.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 9.51 and a quick ratio of 8.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Markowski Investments bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company that owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California. The site is one of the largest rare earth production facilities in the Western Hemisphere and produces rare earth concentrate, with an emphasis on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-performance permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production into separated rare earth products and magnet manufacturing.