MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 2.5% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares shot up 2.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $56.82 and last traded at $56.2850. 7,654,150 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 7,041,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

MP Materials Trading Up 2.5%

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.20. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of -134.01 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382 over the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 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.