MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 5.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 5.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $61.52 and last traded at $64.4860. Approximately 14,160,600 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 39% from the average daily volume of 10,178,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair started coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.7%

The firm has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of -90.83 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.78.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock valued at $62,785,202. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 19,314.3% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.