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

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) reached a new 52-week high during 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. The stock had previously closed at $26.83.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MP. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,869,851. The trade was a 20.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, 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 made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 204.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 69.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of -44.44 and a beta of 2.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.60. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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.