Comerica Bank Purchases 23,451 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Comerica Bank boosted its stake in MP Materials by 60.3% in Q4, buying 23,451 shares to hold 62,337 shares worth about $3.15 million.
• Significant insider selling: the CFO sold 46,000 shares and the CEO sold 259,179 shares (insiders have sold 346,000 shares worth ~$21.97 million in the last 90 days), while insiders still own 8.2% of the company.
• MP Materials has a $11.84 billion market cap and negative trailing P/E (-128.16); the company reported an EPS beat ($0.09 vs. $0.02) despite revenue falling 13.6% YoY, and analysts have an average "Buy" rating with a $79.08 price target.

Comerica Bank increased its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 60.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,337 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,451 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $670,000. Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $9,702,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $550,000. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,089,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,744 shares of the company's stock worth $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 11,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MP opened at $66.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.16 and a beta of 1.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $57.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.96. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.64 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 6.67, a current ratio of 7.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $76.06 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $79.08.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,741,020. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 346,000 shares of company stock worth $21,969,816 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.

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