MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.44.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

MP Materials Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $31.75 on Friday. MP Materials has a 12 month low of $10.02 and a 12 month high of $39.10. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.84 and a beta of 2.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.52 and a 200-day moving average of $24.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 51.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 worth $4,734,000 after buying an additional 51,348 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $687,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 314.6% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 7,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 5,467 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,839,000 after buying an additional 1,257,282 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.