MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Shares Purchased by Wulff Hansen & CO.

Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 1,173.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 185,222 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,672 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,993,000 after purchasing an additional 71,454 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 338,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,305,000 after buying an additional 30,040 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 57.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 37,139 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the second quarter worth about $1,501,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $118,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

MP stock opened at $14.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.40 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $10.02 and a 52 week high of $22.25. The company has a current ratio of 6.90, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

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.