MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 3% – Time to Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 3% on Monday. The company traded as low as $38.93 and last traded at $38.9480. 3,967,897 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 6,412,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MP Materials from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.92.

MP Materials Price Performance

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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of -114.75 and a beta of 1.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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%. MP Materials’s revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in MP Materials by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,408,000 after buying an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter worth $65,230,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 32.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,355,000 after buying an additional 225,009 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 564,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,635,000 after buying an additional 8,556 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 518,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,004,000 after buying an additional 8,663 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.