MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 1.9% - Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $32.36 and last traded at $32.08. 1,203,572 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,687,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MP Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.84 and a beta of 2.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.87. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $60.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. MP Materials's revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $399,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in MP Materials by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,668 shares of the company's stock worth $16,843,000 after acquiring an additional 144,661 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 17,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,432,389 shares of the company's stock worth $37,945,000 after purchasing an additional 73,297 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.