MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 2.6% – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $63.30 and last traded at $62.83. 5,201,634 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 10,322,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MP. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.80 and a 200 day moving average of $64.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 in the last quarter. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Composition Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 28.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.