MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• MP Materials shares fell 2.6% on Wednesday, trading as low as $64.08 amid lighter volume than usual before closing at $65.23.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with multiple firms reiterating buy or outperform ratings and an average price target of about $80.08, well above the current share price.
• The company recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.03 per share versus estimates for a loss and generating $90.65 million in revenue, up 49.1% year over year.

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) were down 2.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $64.08 and last traded at $65.2260. Approximately 5,021,694 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 7,070,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MP shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Securities upgraded shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.08.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.6%

The business's 50-day moving average is $58.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a PE ratio of -155.30 and a beta of 1.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. MP Materials's quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 177,188 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $11,540,254.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 666,000 shares of company stock valued at $43,103,382. 8.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company's stock worth $731,519,000 after buying an additional 459,213 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company's stock worth $333,325,000 after buying an additional 769,517 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company's stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company's stock worth $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

About MP Materials

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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