MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3.4% – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were up 3.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.03 and last traded at $60.1690. Approximately 5,854,517 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 10,881,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.73.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.75 and a beta of 2.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 8.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total transaction of $15,863,526.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,369,665 shares in the company, valued at $853,786,806.90. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total value of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 194,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,244,548.64. This trade represents a 9.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 418,411 shares of company stock valued at $27,820,926 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,020,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,360,000 after purchasing an additional 363,975 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $132,238,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 14.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,928,000 after buying an additional 378,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.