MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 4.7% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $50.26 and last traded at $50.6280. 8,276,055 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 7,724,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -97.36 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.40 and its 200-day moving average is $63.07.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $52.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials’s revenue was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,000 shares of company stock worth $22,006,616. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd grew 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 buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MP Materials by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,519,000 after acquiring an additional 459,213 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,325,000 after acquiring an additional 769,517 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $132,238,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,033,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,928,000 after buying an additional 378,510 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.