MP Materials Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:MP)

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 52,569 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 90% compared to the average volume of 27,736 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on MP Materials from $27.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (up from $32.00) on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on MP Materials from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.28.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,505 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter valued at about $34,288,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257,282 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,886,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,662,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,503,000 after acquiring an additional 942,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MP opened at $58.58 on Thursday. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $62.87. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.12 and a beta of 2.26.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.19 EPS for the current 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.