MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 1.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares traded down 1.4% on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $73.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $45.37 and last traded at $45.6550. Approximately 3,985,217 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 6,577,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.30.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837 in the last ninety days. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,227,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,451,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $449,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.09.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.