MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 3% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price fell 3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $52.42 and last traded at $55.00. Approximately 5,499,840 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 6,665,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Down 3.0%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.89. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -161.76 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The business had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,855,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 585,167 shares of company stock worth $39,028,272 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MP. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently 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.