MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

MP has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $59.20 on Wednesday. MP Materials has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.82. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -174.12 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in MP Materials by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 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.