Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 139,472 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in MP Materials by 146.9% in the fourth quarter, adding 139,472 shares to bring its total holdings to 234,407 shares worth about $11.8 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CFO Ryan Corbett and CEO James H. Litinsky both selling shares recently; insiders have sold 1,251,167 shares over the last 90 days.
• MP Materials beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting EPS of $0.03 versus an expected loss and revenue of $90.65 million, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 146.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,407 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 139,472 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 0.13% of MP Materials worth $11,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Consulate Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 555.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 557 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 106.2% in the third quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,020. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at $800,756,938.95. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,251,167 shares of company stock valued at $82,131,654 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP Materials stock opened at $59.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.96 and a beta of 1.86. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $23.26 and a 1 year high of $100.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.78 and a 200-day moving average of $59.75. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. Wedbush raised their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on MP Materials in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.14.

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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