MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 5.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• MP Materials shares fell 5.1% on Monday, trading as low as $48.96 after closing at $52.21, with volume below average at about 4.0 million shares.
• Despite the drop, Wall Street remains broadly bullish: the stock carries a consensus “Buy” rating and a $79.54 target price, with several firms recently reiterating or raising their targets.
• The company’s latest quarter showed improving fundamentals, as MP Materials beat EPS and revenue estimates and posted 49.1% year-over-year revenue growth, while insiders and institutions remained active in the stock.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 5.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $48.96 and last traded at $49.5590. Approximately 4,001,135 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 6,634,401 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.54.

MP Materials Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.30 and a 200-day moving average of $59.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.00 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $74.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock worth $79,371,654 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in MP Materials by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 36.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,734,000 after buying an additional 51,348 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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