MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 9.2% – Still a Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price shot up 9.2% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $41.05 and last traded at $40.9140. Approximately 6,563,471 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 6,361,749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MP. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MP Materials from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.9%

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 company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.66 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.45.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million for 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 revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 135,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 32,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 6.5% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $473,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company focused on restoring and expanding a fully integrated rare earth supply chain in the United States. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, one of the largest rare earth production sites in the Western Hemisphere.

MP Materials primarily produces rare earth concentrate containing neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in high-strength permanent magnets. These magnets are important components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, defense systems, and other advanced technologies.