MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

MP Materials (NYSE:MPGet Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MP Materials

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $59.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -174.12 and a beta of 1.88. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 9.51 and a quick ratio of 8.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MPGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,543,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 278,126 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,451,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $449,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,482,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MP Materials

(Get Free Report)

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.

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