Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Has $782,000 Stake in MP Materials Corp. $MP

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management boosted its MP Materials stake by 182.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 15,480 shares valued at about $782,000.
• Insider selling was notable, with CFO Ryan Corbett and CEO James H. Litinsky both selling shares recently; insiders have sold 666,000 shares worth about $43.1 million over the last 90 days.
• MP Materials reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $0.03 EPS versus a loss estimate and revenue of $90.65 million, while analysts currently have a Buy consensus and an average price target of $81.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) by 182.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,480 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in MP Materials were worth $782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,451,000. Pinkerton Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC now owns 23,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 8,768 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 20,429.2% in the 4th quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 9,637 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 39,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $11,540,254.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,205,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $794,974,500.45. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382 over the last 90 days. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

MP Materials Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of MP Materials stock opened at $56.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.01 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.14. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $18.64 and a 12-month high of $100.25.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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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