Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,216,000 after acquiring an additional 225,554 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in MP Materials by 2.8% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,819,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,895,000 after purchasing an additional 76,288 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MP Materials by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,993,000 after purchasing an additional 71,454 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,733,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,068,000 after buying an additional 26,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 2,536.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,767,000 after buying an additional 1,598,861 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

MP Materials Stock Up 8.8 %

MP stock opened at $18.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 6.90 and a quick ratio of 6.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.54. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $10.02 and a 12 month high of $20.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -122.60 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.08). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The company had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

MP Materials declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.