Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 959,200 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 67.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 461,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 959,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.28% of MP Materials worth $5,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 153,700.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MP Materials by 3,803.8% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in MP Materials by 15.9% in the first quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $118,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $124,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MP. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 note on Tuesday, August 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MP opened at $16.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 6.90 and a quick ratio of 6.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.76 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $10.02 and a 1 year high of $20.85.

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 return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The company had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 EPS for the current year.

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.