MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Falls 6.1% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price traded down 6.1% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $39.05 and last traded at $39.8210. Approximately 10,038,194 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 56% from the average daily volume of 6,426,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

MP Materials Trading Down 6.1%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.81. 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 $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -117.12 and a beta of 1.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,230,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in MP Materials by 5.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,408,000 after buying an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in MP Materials by 260.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after buying an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 32.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,355,000 after buying an additional 225,009 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $10,648,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company that owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and processing facility in California. The site produces rare earth concentrate, with a focus on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-strength permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production by developing domestic capabilities to separate rare earth elements and manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.