MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

MP Materials (NYSE:MP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Benchmark in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 169.54% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MP. Bank of America decreased their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MP Materials from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on MP Materials from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.50.

MP Materials Stock Down 12.2 %

Shares of MP traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.13. The company had a trading volume of 5,038,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,279,695. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 9.28 and a current ratio of 10.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.80 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $11.06 and a 1 year high of $24.44.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $48.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.00 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 0.61% and a net margin of 1.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $846,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 325,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,502,605.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $846,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 325,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,502,605.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrew A. Mcknight sold 317,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $5,741,742.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,554,020. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598,861 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in MP Materials by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,314,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,956,000 after acquiring an additional 860,960 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in MP Materials by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,960,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,756,000 after acquiring an additional 614,088 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,484,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 151.1% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 815,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,382,000 after buying an additional 490,767 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

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.