MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares fell 1.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $53.25 and last traded at $53.75. Approximately 3,359,170 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 6,580,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -160.05 and a beta of 1.94.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. Analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 7.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in MP Materials by 26.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after buying an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. 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.