MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 7.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 7.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $52.08 and last traded at $53.2190. Approximately 8,861,434 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average daily volume of 7,721,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of -102.34 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 6.67, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.14.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The firm’s revenue was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 346,000 shares of company stock worth $22,006,616 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.