MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 7.5% Higher – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were up 7.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $71.37 and last traded at $69.5520. Approximately 8,519,187 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average daily volume of 7,047,981 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.18 and a quick ratio of 6.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.54. The company has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -171.66 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207 in the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.