MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price was down 4.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $55.45 and last traded at $56.2490. Approximately 5,916,812 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 6,879,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -127.47 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $1,030,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 102.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 8,557 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 138.7% during the 1st quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 22,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 13,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankChampaign National Association bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $477,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.