Covea Finance Acquires Shares of 82,700 MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Covea Finance opened a new position in MP Materials in Q4, acquiring 82,700 shares valued at approximately $4.18 million.
• Company insiders sold a total of 346,000 shares (about $22.0 million) over the last quarter—including CEO and CFO transactions—leaving insiders with roughly 9.5% ownership.
• MP stock is down recently and has a market cap of about $8.97 billion; the firm reported an EPS beat but revenue decline and negative margins, while analysts carry a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of $78.91.

Covea Finance acquired a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 82,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,178,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MP. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MP Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 4,600.0% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 564 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in MP Materials by 500.0% in the third quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 600 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in MP Materials by 75.9% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 642 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of MP opened at $50.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.92. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $18.64 and a one year high of $100.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a current ratio of 7.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -97.36 and a beta of 1.55.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The company had revenue of $52.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.91.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,760,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 346,000 shares of company stock valued at $22,006,616 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

MP Materials 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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