MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 3.2% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded down 3.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $54.51 and last traded at $54.8690. 5,062,911 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 7,034,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

MP Materials Stock Down 3.2%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.77 and a 200 day moving average of $59.27. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.64 and a beta of 1.90. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382 in the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.