Krane Funds Advisors LLC Acquires 22,067 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lifted its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,748 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,067 shares during the quarter. MP Materials accounts for approximately 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. raised its position in MP Materials by 555.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,251,167 shares of company stock worth $82,131,654. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Up 0.0%

MP Materials stock opened at $59.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.96 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. MP Materials Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.26 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.14.

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.