MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 7.9%

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $15.53 and last traded at $15.35. 346,885 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,320,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.48. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of -103.73 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its 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). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 21.94% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in MP Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 74,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in MP Materials by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its holdings in MP Materials by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 66,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MP Materials by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.