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

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.9091.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MP shares. Bank of America raised their target price on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Daiwa America raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP opened at $53.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.32. MP Materials has a twelve month low of $15.56 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of -75.32 and a beta of 1.69.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The business had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total transaction of $24,231,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,889,437.10. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 691,557 shares of company stock valued at $43,538,586. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew its holdings in MP Materials by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,020,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,360,000 after acquiring an additional 363,975 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter valued at $132,238,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in MP Materials by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,928,000 after purchasing an additional 378,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently 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.