MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded down 2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $52.35 and last traded at $53.66. 3,748,813 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 6,619,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -157.82 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.72.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The company had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were 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 $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 73.3% in 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 purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.