Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,550 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $1,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,726,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in MP Materials by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 176,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after buying an additional 100,915 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the third quarter worth $670,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the third quarter valued at $550,000. Finally, Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the third quarter valued at $1,089,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Trading Up 8.5%

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $61.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. MP Materials Corp. has a 12 month low of $18.64 and a 12 month high of $100.25. The company has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.41 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.92.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The firm had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.