MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 5.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• MP Materials shares fell 5.7% to about $51.19 in mid-day trading, with volume slightly above the average session level.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $78.21, despite one downgrade to “Strong Sell” and Needham lowering its target to $73.
• The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 89% year over year to $108.49 million and met adjusted EPS estimates, although MP Materials remained unprofitable with a negative net margin of 19.85%.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) fell 5.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $51.12 and last traded at $51.1920. 6,820,533 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 6,563,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut shares of MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 9.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -150.56 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.36 and a 200-day moving average of $56.53.

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

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 121,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 3,748.1% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060 shares during the last quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter worth $672,000. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials in the second quarter valued at about $10,648,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

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 is one of the largest rare earth production facilities in the Western Hemisphere and produces rare earth concentrate, with an emphasis on neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), materials used in high-performance permanent magnets.

The company is expanding its operations beyond mining and concentrate production into separated rare earth products and magnet manufacturing.

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