Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 93,319 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 445,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93,319 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.27% of MP Materials worth $5,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MP. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 153,700.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 2,316.7% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $124,000. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MP shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MP Materials from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.89.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $13.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $22.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.17 and its 200-day moving average is $14.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.60 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 21.94% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.