Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 604,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,200 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $10,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 136.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 817.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $100,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $16.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.10.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 300,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.22, for a total transaction of $6,066,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 18,043,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,830,996.72. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total value of $278,068.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,021 shares in the company, valued at $5,398,884.30. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 884,862 shares of company stock worth $17,484,482. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MP opened at $16.46 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.83. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $24.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 2.24.

MP Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MP Materials Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.