MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 6.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 6.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $59.49 and last traded at $59.08. 9,223,181 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 10,924,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.73.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 248,411 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.86, for a total transaction of $15,863,526.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 13,369,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,786,806.90. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total value of $10,803,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,284,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,503,136.18. This trade represents a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 418,411 shares of company stock valued at $27,820,926 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in MP Materials by 132.7% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100,915 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $687,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% 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.