MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 3,120,879 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the previous session's volume of 3,441,950 shares.The stock last traded at $23.99 and had previously closed at $26.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.67 and a 200-day moving average of $21.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.34 and a beta of 2.24. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,330,015 shares of company stock worth $34,559,781. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JT Stratford LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 63,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 20.6% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, SWS Partners raised its holdings in MP Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 162,503 shares of the company's stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.