MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3.4% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• MP Materials' stock rose 3.4% recently, reaching $69.84, despite a 43% decrease in trading volume compared to average sessions.
• Analysts have set varied price targets on the stock, with Jefferies Financial Group upgrading it to a buy rating and setting a target of $80.00.
• The company reported a net loss of ($0.12) earnings per share last quarter, missing estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 24.9%.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) shares traded up 3.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $72.35 and last traded at $69.84. 5,091,308 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 8,928,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $18.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on MP Materials from $52.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $65.00 price objective on MP Materials and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.88.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of -109.38 and a beta of 2.30. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a current ratio of 4.12.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.77% and a negative net margin of 48.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares during 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the first quarter valued at about $1,460,000. 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.

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