Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $71.50 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 41.66% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.25.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $50.47 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of -120.18 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials has a 1-year low of $29.58 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in MP Materials by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its stake in MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after acquiring an additional 887,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.