MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3.4% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price was down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.59 and last traded at $64.5730. Approximately 4,997,309 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,032,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.08.

MP Materials Stock Down 3.4%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.48. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,531,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,705,000 after buying an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is 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.