Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Boosts Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,360 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,925 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned about 0.15% of MP Materials worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 153,700.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in MP Materials by 15.9% in the first quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the second quarter worth $118,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the second quarter valued at $124,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.89.

MP Materials Price Performance

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

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

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $325,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,208,249. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.