MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 6.1% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were down 6.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $57.24 and last traded at $60.69. Approximately 11,048,391 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 10,826,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MP. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Down 6.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.48 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.99.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. 12.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneco Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 14,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $168,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in MP Materials by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 11,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $5,388,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. 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.