Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Increases Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,227 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,771 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $6,284,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $399,000. Oak Family Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $530,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 167.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 22,473 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in MP Materials in the third quarter worth about $2,300,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $25.97 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $27.29. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.02 and a beta of 2.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares in the company, valued at $405,650,039.66. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.