MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded up 1.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $55.08 and last traded at $54.7450. Approximately 3,539,230 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 6,820,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Down 3.0%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.32 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after buying an additional 49,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 51,348 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.