MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.91 and last traded at $58.27. 4,707,464 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 6,948,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The stock has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of -138.74 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,251,167 shares of company stock valued at $82,131,654. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.