MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3.6% – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price rose 3.6% during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $48.65 and last traded at $48.5060. 4,308,899 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 6,430,290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MP. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.42.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of -142.66 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 9.51 and a quick ratio of 8.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The company had revenue of $108.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The business’s revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust raised its holdings in MP Materials by 25.0% during the third quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust now owns 2,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in MP Materials by 12.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 107.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 115,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,452,000 after purchasing an additional 59,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in MP Materials by 5.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,408,000 after purchasing an additional 376,519 shares during the last quarter. 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 that owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and processing facility in California. The site produces rare earth concentrate, with a focus on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-strength permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production by developing domestic capabilities to separate rare earth elements and manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.