MP Materials Corp. $MP Stock Position Boosted by Bernzott Capital Advisors

Bernzott Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 174,782 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,208 shares during the period. MP Materials accounts for about 4.0% of Bernzott Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Bernzott Capital Advisors’ holdings in MP Materials were worth $8,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 10,548 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 8,838 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in MP Materials by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

More MP Materials News

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on MP Materials (MP) to $71.50 from $70 and kept an overweight rating, signaling confidence in further upside for the stock. Morgan Stanley price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $61 from $70 but still maintained a buy rating, implying analysts still see meaningful upside from current levels. Deutsche Bank price target update
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials’ lawsuit against USA Rare Earth highlights the company’s strategic position in rare earth magnet technology, and China’s tighter export controls may strengthen the investment case for U.S.-based suppliers over time. MP Materials sues USA Rare Earth over magnet technology
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry coverage also noted that a shortage of specialized engineers could slow the U.S. rare earth buildout, which is relevant to MP Materials but does not directly change near-term fundamentals. Rare earth talent crunch article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MP. Barclays began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.54.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE MP opened at $51.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.40. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $42.86 and a 12-month high of $100.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -123.30 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. Analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 in the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MP Materials 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.