Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Position in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 27.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,468 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $4,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in MP Materials by 19,314.3% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 429.3% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 1,257,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in MP Materials during the second quarter valued at $19,962,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 964,157 shares of company stock worth $61,031,328 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.5%

MP stock opened at $61.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.70. MP Materials Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $18.64 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MP shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

About MP Materials

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.