Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays cut its MP Materials price target from $65 to $54 but maintained an Overweight rating; the new target implies 44.1% upside from the cited share price.
• Analyst views are mixed, though MarketBeat’s consensus is Moderate Buy with a $71 average target; ratings include 13 Buys, one Hold, and two Sells, plus one Strong Buy.
• MP Materials beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.04 and revenue of $147.7 million, up 175.7% year over year.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Barclays from $65.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's target price suggests a potential upside of 44.12% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MP. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on MP Materials from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.00.

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MP traded up $2.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.47. 1,517,700 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,361,255. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 6.75 and a quick ratio of 6.04. MP Materials has a 52-week low of $31.90 and a 52-week high of $76.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -170.00 and a beta of 2.05. The company's 50 day moving average price is $45.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.44.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.06. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 9.90% and a negative return on equity of 0.05%. The business had revenue of $147.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 175.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% in the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in MP Materials by 390.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 682 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Markowski Investments purchased a new position in MP Materials during the second quarter worth about $43,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp purchased a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 990.1% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California. The site is a major North American source of rare earth materials, which are used in products such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics and defense systems.

The company mines and processes rare earth ore into concentrate and separated products, including neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), a key input for high-strength permanent magnets. MP Materials is also developing domestic magnet manufacturing capabilities to extend its business further along the supply chain.

Mountain Pass has a long history of rare earth production, and MP Materials acquired the site's operating assets in 2017.

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