MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 9.4% - Here's What Happened

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) fell 9.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.66 and last traded at $32.61. 4,936,533 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 4,623,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.44.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $25.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.42. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.97 and a beta of 2.14. 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 released 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). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 9.77% and a negative net margin of 48.41%. The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 51,348 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in MP Materials in the first quarter valued at about $687,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 314.6% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 7,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,467 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter worth about $4,953,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

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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