MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 2.9% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price traded up 2.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $56.02 and last traded at $55.6680. 6,297,746 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 6,679,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush upped their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.19. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -163.72 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,543,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $2,451,000. Amundi lifted its position in MP Materials by 260.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after acquiring an additional 278,126 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $449,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.