The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on MP Materials (NYSE:MP)

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 35.76% from the company’s current price.

MP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on MP Materials from $64.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa America upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.82.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MP stock opened at $56.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. MP Materials has a 52 week low of $15.56 and a 52 week high of $100.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.73. The company has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.88 and a beta of 2.26.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total transaction of $15,863,526.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,369,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,786,806.90. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total value of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 194,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,244,548.64. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 418,411 shares of company stock worth $27,820,926. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 12.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 99.7% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 10,138 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in MP Materials by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $274,000. 52.55% of the stock is 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.