MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 1.6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• MP Materials shares rose 1.6% on Monday, trading as high as $55.08, though volume was below average at about 3.54 million shares.
• Wall Street sentiment remains bullish: several analysts recently reiterated or raised ratings, and the stock now carries a consensus “Buy” rating with an average target price of $80.14.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.03 versus a loss expected and revenue up 49.1% year over year to $90.65 million, while insider and institutional activity showed mixed but notable trading.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $55.08 and last traded at $54.7450. Approximately 3,539,230 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 6,820,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $69.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.35 and a beta of 1.86. The company's fifty day moving average is $62.38 and its 200 day moving average is $59.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. The company's revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at $75,512,565.26. The trade was a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MP. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 5.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 102.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the company's stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 8,557 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 138.7% during the first quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 22,557 shares of the company's stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 13,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankChampaign National Association bought a new stake in MP Materials during the first quarter worth $477,000. 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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