MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 9.1% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was up 9.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $60.59 and last traded at $60.07. 8,372,674 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the average daily volume of 6,671,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wedbush lifted their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.86. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -176.67 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,952,414.55. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 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.