MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 5.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) rose 5.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $71.50. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as high as $53.38 and last traded at $53.0690. 5,401,241 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 6,715,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.49.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MP. Barclays began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 49,052 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter worth $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter valued at $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.41. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.35 and a beta of 1.86. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

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.