MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Price Target Lowered to $73.00 at Needham & Company LLC

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its price objective lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock.

MP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.42.

MP Materials Stock Down 1.4%

MP opened at $45.66 on Wednesday. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $43.82 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The company has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of -108.70 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,461,973.72. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 555.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 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.