MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.69, but opened at $28.48. MP Materials shares last traded at $27.80, with a volume of 1,457,214 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.8%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.46 and a beta of 2.14.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The firm's revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,153,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,662,567 shares of the company's stock worth $333,503,000 after purchasing an additional 942,105 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MP Materials by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,505 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 25.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,655,102 shares of the company's stock worth $64,811,000 after buying an additional 536,522 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company's stock worth $37,945,000 after buying an additional 73,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,207,017 shares of the company's stock worth $34,433,000 after buying an additional 176,121 shares during 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.