MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $29.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as high as $27.29 and last traded at $26.80, with a volume of 2691828 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.83.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MP. DA Davidson upped their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.61.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,112,316 shares of company stock valued at $28,665,974. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 204.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.75 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $60.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. Analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About MP Materials

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.