Regal Partners Ltd Takes $1.15 Million Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Regal Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,149,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in MP Materials by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $41.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -98.30 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $39.91 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.63.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 905,167 shares of company stock valued at $60,161,837 in the last three months. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.42.

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.