MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.42.

MP Materials Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $41.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.89. 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 has a 12-month low of $41.12 and a 12-month high of $100.25. The firm has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.25 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $1,227,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,184,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,451,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $449,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.