MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 4.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 4.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $51.24 and last traded at $51.5420. Approximately 3,805,751 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 7,535,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 6.67, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of -99.12 and a beta of 1.55.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,006,616 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. raised its position in MP Materials by 555.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 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.