MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 5% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $57.74 and last traded at $58.50. Approximately 5,942,464 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 8,333,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.67, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.50 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 723,146 shares of company stock worth $45,767,276. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter valued at $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100,915 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the third quarter worth about $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the third quarter worth about $1,089,000. 52.55% of the stock is 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.