MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 4.9% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s stock price dropped 4.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $67.41 and last traded at $68.7160. Approximately 5,427,970 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 7,031,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the topic of several research reports. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The firm has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a PE ratio of -146.76 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.76.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. MP Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, for a total transaction of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,333,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,066,000 shares of company stock worth $69,329,207. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,702,000. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,227,000. South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,617,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 84.1% during the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 118,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,931,000 after buying an additional 54,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth $3,505,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.