MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Down 4.5% – What’s Next?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 4.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $23.29 and last traded at $23.37. Approximately 1,936,961 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 3,191,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MP. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.45.

MP Materials Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of -44.27 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.04). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 6.78% and a negative net margin of 32.24%. The company had revenue of $62.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.30 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $375,590,254.76. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total transaction of $278,068.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 295,021 shares in the company, valued at $5,398,884.30. The trade was a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,271,085 shares of company stock valued at $26,757,696 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in MP Materials by 23.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 13,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $182,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in MP Materials by 136.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in MP Materials by 25.7% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 118,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 24,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

About MP Materials

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.