MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 2.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• MP Materials shares rose 2.1% to about $51.05 in midday trading, with volume down 14% from the average session.
• Analyst views remain generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $76.29, despite several recent target-price cuts and one downgrade to “Sell.”
• The company matched quarterly EPS expectations at a $0.01 loss while revenue reached $108.49 million, up 89% year over year; institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of its shares.

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) rose 2.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $51.34 and last traded at $51.0460. Approximately 5,581,364 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 6,506,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $81.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $69.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "positive" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.29.

MP Materials Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.01. The company has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -150.13 and a beta of 1.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $96.89 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 1.21% and a negative net margin of 19.85%.The company's revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% in the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Markowski Investments purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company's stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

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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