23,275 Shares in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Acquired by Legato Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Legato Capital Management LLC has acquired 23,275 shares of MP Materials Corp., valued at approximately $568,000, during the first quarter.
• Various hedge funds have invested in MP Materials recently, resulting in institutional and hedge fund ownership of approximately 52.55% of the company's stock.
• MP Materials has experienced a recent increase in stock ratings, with JPMorgan Chase raising its price target from $18.00 to $64.00 and Robert W. Baird increasing it from $52.00 to $69.00.

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 119,900.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in MP Materials by 47.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in MP Materials during the first quarter valued at $79,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP traded down $2.97 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $61.14. 5,852,957 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,768,517. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a current ratio of 4.12. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $65.84. The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.25 and a beta of 2.26. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $35.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.98.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. MP Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $52.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on MP Materials from $27.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.11.

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.