MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 1.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• MP Materials shares rose 1.7% in midday trading, reaching as high as $62.28 before settling at $61.35. Trading volume came in below average, with about 5.2 million shares changing hands.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with multiple firms reiterating buy/outperform ratings and Wedbush raising its price target to $100. The consensus analyst price target is currently $81.
• The company recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.03 per share on revenue of $90.65 million, while revenue jumped 49.1% year over year. However, insider selling has been notable, including share sales by the CEO and CFO.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $62.28 and last traded at $61.35. 5,194,572 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 7,033,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MP. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

MP Materials Trading Up 1.7%

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 company has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -146.07 and a beta of 1.90. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.36.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. The company's revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,505,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $800,756,938.95. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 46,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,760,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 129,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,741,020. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 666,000 shares of company stock worth $43,103,382. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 806 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

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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