MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 3% – What’s Next?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were down 3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $54.25 and last traded at $54.3150. Approximately 3,109,279 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 6,762,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wedbush upped their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.13 and a 200 day moving average of $59.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.32 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.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654 over the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the 4th 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. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 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.