MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Up 3.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• MP Materials shares rose 3.6% to $60.35 on Monday (intraday high $60.50), with ~4.67 million shares traded—about 43% below its average daily volume.
• Wall Street consensus is a Buy with a $78.91 average price target; analysts count 2 Strong Buy, 13 Buy and 1 Sell ratings on the stock.
• Insiders have been selling recently—CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares (and the CFO sold 38,146), totaling 338,146 shares sold in the last 90 days—while insiders still own about 9.50% of the company.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 3.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.50 and last traded at $60.3520. Approximately 4,672,915 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 8,193,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MP shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of MP Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Up 3.6%

The company has a current ratio of 7.24, a quick ratio of 6.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.70. The company has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -116.06 and a beta of 1.55.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total value of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,805,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $821,758,774.05. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $2,288,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 338,146 shares of company stock worth $21,535,376. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in MP Materials by 420.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 364 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors 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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