MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Short Interest Up 34.5% in April

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,070,000 shares, an increase of 34.5% from the March 31st total of 21,620,000 shares. Approximately 24.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 18,519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $500,013.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,842,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,740,912. This represents a 0.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,812 shares in the company, valued at $5,799,924. This represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,330,015 shares of company stock worth $34,559,781 in the last ninety days. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,986,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005,505 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,945,000 after purchasing an additional 73,297 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,207,017 shares of the company's stock worth $34,433,000 after purchasing an additional 176,121 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,118,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,050,000 after buying an additional 7,453 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,843,000 after buying an additional 144,661 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE MP traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.01. 3,270,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,613,361. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.39 and a beta of 2.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.67. MP Materials has a one year low of $10.02 and a one year high of $29.72.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials 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.

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