MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 1.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares rose 1.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $62.98 and last traded at $61.9810. Approximately 9,132,701 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 9,044,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

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 market cap of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of -87.30 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 691,557 shares of company stock valued at $43,538,586 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in MP Materials by 168.7% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 181.3% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MP Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.