MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.8% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) traded down 5.8% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $31.90 and last traded at $33.82. Approximately 15,601,376 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 145% from the average session volume of 6,364,885 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.92.

MP Materials Trading Down 5.8%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.78. The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -99.47 and a beta of 2.05.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.06. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%. The company had revenue of $147.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.37 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its holdings in MP Materials by 73.3% in the second 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. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 390.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 682 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Markowski Investments bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 990.1% during the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company focused on restoring and expanding a fully integrated rare earth supply chain in the United States. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California, one of the largest rare earth production sites in the Western Hemisphere.

MP Materials primarily produces rare earth concentrate containing neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in high-strength permanent magnets. These magnets are important components in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, defense systems, and other advanced technologies.