Granahan Investment Management LLC Invests $6.49 Million in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Granahan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 128,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,488,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This represents 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 over the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MP shares. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of MP opened at $57.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.73 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $29.58 and a one year high of $100.25. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.66.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during 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%.MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials 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.