Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. cut its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,664 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $100,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in MP Materials by 15.9% in the first 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.67.

Insider Activity at MP Materials

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

MP Materials Trading Up 8.8 %

Shares of MP stock opened at $18.39 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of -122.60 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 6.90 and a quick ratio of 6.17. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $20.85.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $40.03 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.