MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares rose 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $58.52 and last traded at $54.42. Approximately 7,019,455 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 6,583,843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, August 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of -160.05 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.62.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The firm had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.30 per share, for a total transaction of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 8.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in MP Materials by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 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.