MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.61.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,869,851. The trade was a 20.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares in the company, valued at $405,650,039.66. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock valued at $29,165,987. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 197.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 96,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,751 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 160.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 18,934 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 673.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 22,144 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in MP Materials by 8.8% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 190,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,360,000 after purchasing an additional 15,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the third quarter worth $4,584,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $26.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.42 and a beta of 2.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13. MP Materials has a 1 year low of $10.02 and a 1 year high of $27.29.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share 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.