MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 6.6% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• MP Materials shares rose 6.6% on Wednesday, trading as high as $62.46 after closing at $57.05 the previous day, with volume roughly in line with its average daily trading volume.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were stronger than expected, with $0.03 EPS versus a loss estimate and revenue of $90.65 million, up 49.1% year over year. Analysts currently maintain a Buy consensus, with an average price target of $80.14.
• Insider activity was mixed: COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares, while CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares. Institutional investors remain heavily involved, owning about 52.55% of the stock.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) was up 6.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $62.46 and last traded at $60.8230. Approximately 6,852,723 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 6,920,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price objective on MP Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised MP Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MP Materials from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Trading Up 6.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.82 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.80 and a 200 day moving average of $59.66.

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

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. The trade was a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 185,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $12,802,446.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,620,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,461,973.72. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654 over the last quarter. Insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company's stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in MP Materials by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company's stock worth $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company's stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company's stock worth $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 887,148 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is 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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