MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3.1% After Analyst Downgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 3.1% during trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $15.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $16.85 and last traded at $16.87. Approximately 577,727 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 3,635,607 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.41.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of MP Materials from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $26.00 to $15.50 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,635,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,669,000 after acquiring an additional 254,881 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,933,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,401,000 after acquiring an additional 157,764 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in MP Materials by 3.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,965,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,498,000 after acquiring an additional 200,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in MP Materials by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,122,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,976,000 after acquiring an additional 411,771 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.55 and a beta of 2.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.29 and its 200-day moving average is $16.53. The company has a quick ratio of 9.54, a current ratio of 10.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). MP Materials had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 3.86%. The firm had revenue of $41.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.40 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

About MP Materials

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.