MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading 8.5% Higher - What's Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 8.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $28.29 and last traded at $27.87. 3,068,069 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 4,033,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.8%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.46 and a beta of 2.14.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The business's revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $13,115,104.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,153,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 7.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 48.7% during 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 during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 107,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

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.