MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 2.3% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were up 2.3% during trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $60.29 and last traded at $60.00. Approximately 6,554,598 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 8,544,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.66.

The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MP. Wall Street Zen cut MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 723,146 shares of company stock worth $45,767,276 in the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 59,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 30,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 12,897 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in MP Materials by 404.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 86,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Up 2.3%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 8.05 and a quick ratio of 7.51. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.51 and a beta of 1.60.

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.