MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Given Buy Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $30.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on MP Materials from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of MP Materials from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $15.50 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut MP Materials from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $16.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $23.64.

MP Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MP traded up $2.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.42. The stock had a trading volume of 7,308,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,540,651. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $12.68 and a 12-month high of $26.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 9.28 and a current ratio of 10.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -117.99 and a beta of 2.31.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). The business had revenue of $41.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.40 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 0.61% and a net margin of 1.62%. On average, research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 238,715 shares of the company's stock worth $3,414,000 after buying an additional 11,491 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 14.5% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 188,828 shares of the company's stock worth $2,700,000 after acquiring an additional 23,903 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 2.4% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 671,021 shares of the company's stock worth $9,596,000 after purchasing an additional 15,851 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company's stock worth $198,216,000 after purchasing an additional 225,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in MP Materials by 36.5% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 466,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 124,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.