MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 2.6% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• MP Materials shares fell 2.6% after Robert W. Baird cut its price target from $80 to $65, although it maintained an outperform rating. The stock traded near $46.05 on increased volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $75.42 average price target, despite recent downgrades from several firms.
• Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company, while MP Materials reported an 89% year-over-year revenue increase to $108.49 million in its latest quarter, though it remained unprofitable.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) was down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $65.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $44.49 and last traded at $46.0510. Approximately 6,801,199 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 6,459,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.29.

MP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on MP Materials from $70.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MP. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 5.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,773,746 shares of the company's stock worth $435,408,000 after purchasing an additional 376,519 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,544,743 shares of the company's stock worth $128,587,000 after purchasing an additional 197,375 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $82,531,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,230,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MP Materials by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 919,083 shares of the company's stock worth $44,355,000 after purchasing an additional 225,009 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.44 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.15 and a 200 day moving average of $55.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 9.51 and a quick ratio of 8.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The business had revenue of $108.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 89.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp. is a rare earth materials company that owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and processing facility in California. The site produces rare earth concentrate, with a focus on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-strength permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production by developing domestic capabilities to separate rare earth elements and manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.

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