MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 10.5% - Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 10.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $34.20 and last traded at $33.76. 9,971,161 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 129% from the average session volume of 4,356,755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MP Materials Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.84 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total transaction of $5,393,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,643,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 378,874 shares of company stock valued at $10,235,862 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in MP Materials by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 99,900 shares of the company's stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company's stock worth $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 294,806 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $159,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 248,591 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 107,738 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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