MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $55.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 7,299,506 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 5,278,447 shares.The stock last traded at $48.15 and had previously closed at $45.11.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on MP. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson increased their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on MP Materials from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (up previously from $32.00) on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.28.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $6,284,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $388,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,050,000 after buying an additional 7,453 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -73.74 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a current ratio of 4.12.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. The business had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials Company 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.