MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research downgraded shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.21.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.2%

MP Materials stock opened at $59.20 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.82. The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. MP Materials has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -174.12 and a beta of 1.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.