MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 7.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 7.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $60.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $37.81 and last traded at $38.0410. Approximately 8,735,446 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 6,577,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.28.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 905,167 shares of company stock worth $60,161,837. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 21,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in MP Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.63. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.57 and a beta of 1.86.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.