MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 5.3%

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was up 5.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.03 and last traded at $12.96. Approximately 990,974 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 3,269,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MP. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.22.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 10.29 and a quick ratio of 9.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.47 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.08). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.13% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The firm had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 50,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total value of $846,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 325,021 shares in the company, valued at $5,502,605.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,216,000 after acquiring an additional 225,554 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,122,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,976,000 after acquiring an additional 411,771 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in MP Materials by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,819,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,895,000 after acquiring an additional 76,288 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MP Materials by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,993,000 after acquiring an additional 71,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,733,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,068,000 after acquiring an additional 26,119 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.