Driehaus Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,404,667 MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in MP Materials Corp., purchasing over 1.4 million shares valued at approximately $34.3 million, representing 0.86% ownership of the company.
• MP Materials recently reported a revenue increase of 83.6% year-over-year, with earnings per share of ($0.13), exceeding analyst expectations.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on MP Materials, with analysts currently holding an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $60.63.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,404,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,288,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.86% of MP Materials at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 119,900.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in MP Materials by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,970 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 1st quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of MP Materials to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $52.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $65.00 target price on shares of MP Materials and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $18.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.02, for a total transaction of $10,803,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,284,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,503,136.18. The trade was a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MP traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.19. 6,903,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,873,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 3.60. The company has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a PE ratio of -113.00 and a beta of 2.30. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $56.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.88. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $12.39 and a 1-year high of $82.50.

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