Independent Financial Group LLC Takes Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 19,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,519,000 after buying an additional 459,213 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after buying an additional 769,517 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position 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 period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 71.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP opened at $45.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.15 and a beta of 1.86. 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 50-day moving average price of $57.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.15. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $43.82 and a twelve month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. MP Materials’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. Equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 in the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.