MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.1429.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MP shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays began coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company.

MP Materials Stock Down 1.9%

MP stock opened at $55.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.59. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $29.58 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25. 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 company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -132.05 and a beta of 1.86.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654 over the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 5.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 102.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 8,557 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 138.7% during the first quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 22,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 13,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankChampaign National Association purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $477,000. 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.