MP Materials Corp. $MP Shares Bought by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 28.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,951 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,646 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of MP Materials stock traded down $2.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,112,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,672,359. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $29.58 and a 1-year high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.34 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.42.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MP. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.