Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 19,853 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its MP Materials stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,853 shares and leaving it with 341,507 shares valued at about $17.25 million.
• MP Materials reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $0.03 per share on revenue of $90.65 million, with revenue rising 49.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $81, even as some insiders have recently sold shares and one firm maintained a sell rating.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 341,507 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,853 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of MP Materials worth $17,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $416,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in MP Materials by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,171 shares of the company's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 14,901 shares of the company's stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in MP Materials by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 11,100 shares of the company's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.00.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP Materials stock opened at $63.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. MP Materials Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $18.64 and a fifty-two week high of $100.25. The company has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of -152.03 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $16,595,231.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $800,756,938.95. The trade was 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,000 shares of company stock worth $23,469,816. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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