Traders Buy High Volume of MP Materials Call Options (NYSE:MP)

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 52,569 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 90% compared to the typical daily volume of 27,736 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $27.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.56.

MP Materials Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of MP stock traded up $2.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $63.10. 28,945,220 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,019,179. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $64.44. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company's 50-day moving average price is $30.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -97.08 and a beta of 2.26.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 48.41% and a negative return on equity of 9.77%. MP Materials's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 44.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,537,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,505 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,288,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,282 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,886,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,662,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,503,000 after purchasing an additional 942,105 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.