HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 385,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,019,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of MP Materials at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $5,330,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in MP Materials by 150.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 121,392 shares of the company's stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 72,868 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,284,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company's stock worth $33,050,000 after purchasing an additional 7,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.11. 3,468,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,511,376. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.17 and a beta of 2.24. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $10.02 and a 1 year high of $29.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.30. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The company had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.71 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MP. DA Davidson raised their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $405,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 214,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,799,924. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,330,015 shares of company stock worth $34,559,781 in the last quarter. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About MP Materials

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.