Aberdeen Group plc Sells 29,589 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its ownership of MP Materials Corp. by 23.3% in the first quarter, selling 29,589 shares and now holding 97,364 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about MP Materials, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $60.63, following several upgrades from various research firms.
• MP Materials recently reported earnings, showing a revenue increase of 83.6% year-over-year, with earnings per share slightly beating analyst estimates at ($0.13).

Aberdeen Group plc cut its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,364 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,589 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.06% of MP Materials worth $2,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 worth $101,986,000 after buying an additional 2,005,505 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,886,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $333,503,000 after purchasing an additional 942,105 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,655,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,811,000 after purchasing an additional 536,522 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,284,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MP. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on MP Materials from $52.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $64.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $65.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of MP Materials to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.63.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.5%

MP stock traded down $0.3160 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.9640. 10,358,610 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,025,305. The stock has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.88 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 3.60 and a quick ratio of 3.12. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $12.31 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $53.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.17.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.84 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 41.87% and a negative return on equity of 9.34%. The business's revenue was up 83.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials Company Profile

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.