MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.61.

Several analysts recently commented on MP shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

MP Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MP stock opened at $25.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.12 and a 200-day moving average of $20.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.64 and a beta of 2.32. MP Materials has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $27.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.71 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $9,273,214.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,643,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,869,851. The trade was a 20.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 197.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 96,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,751 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 160.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 18,934 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 673.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 22,144 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 8.8% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 190,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,360,000 after buying an additional 15,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,584,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.