MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $32.00. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as high as $27.29 and last traded at $26.80, with a volume of 2691828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.83.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MP. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $405,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 214,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,799,924. This represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,643,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $375,590,254.76. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,112,316 shares of company stock valued at $28,665,974. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $156,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 31,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 7,590 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 63,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 22,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,524,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.42 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. On average, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

MP Materials Company 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.