MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 6.6% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price was up 6.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $62.46 and last traded at $60.8230. Approximately 6,852,723 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 6,920,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Up 6.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of -144.82 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.80 and a 200 day moving average of $59.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.