MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• MP Materials shares fell 2% to about $54.26 in midday trading, with volume down 42% from the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $78.21, despite Zacks Research issuing a “Strong Sell” downgrade and Needham cutting its target to $73.
• The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 89% year over year to $108.49 million and exceeded estimates, while earnings matched expectations at a loss of $0.01 per share. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the stock.

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) was down 2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $54.21 and last traded at $54.2590. 3,814,526 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 6,562,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MP. Zacks Research downgraded MP Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.21.

MP Materials Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a current ratio of 9.51, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -159.58 and a beta of 1.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.56.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $108.49 million for 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 company's revenue was up 89.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $220,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 3,748.1% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 5,060 shares during the period. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in MP Materials during the second quarter valued at $672,000. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,648,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 51,742 shares of the company's stock worth $2,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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