MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 1.9% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares dropped 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $41.94 and last traded at $42.5210. Approximately 5,051,109 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 6,409,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Trading Up 4.3%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.73. 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 company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of -122.23 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). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,543,000. Amundi boosted its stake in MP Materials by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 278,126 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 135.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 39,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 22,958 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $557,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,408,000 after purchasing an additional 376,519 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.