MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 6% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were down 6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $58.10 and last traded at $58.2250. Approximately 5,716,833 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 10,827,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa America upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.73.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.74 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.24. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. Equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total value of $15,863,526.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,369,665 shares in the company, valued at $853,786,806.90. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total value of $1,154,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,244,548.64. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,020,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,360,000 after acquiring an additional 363,975 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $132,238,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 14.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,928,000 after purchasing an additional 378,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.