MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 2.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 2.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $48.88 and last traded at $49.21. 4,419,375 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 6,528,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.58.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -146.03 and a beta of 1.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.11 and its 200 day moving average is $56.27. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The firm had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its stake in MP Materials by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.7% during the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.5% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. NFSG Corp raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 5.0% during the first quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 5,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company that owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California. The site is one of the largest rare earth production facilities in the Western Hemisphere and produces rare earth concentrate, with an emphasis on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-performance permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production into separated rare earth products and magnet manufacturing.