MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $38.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as high as $35.78 and last traded at $35.46, with a volume of 14018850 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.65.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 18,519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $500,013.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,842,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,740,912. This trade represents a 0.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 119,900.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 132.7% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.55 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.