BMO Capital Markets Increases MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Price Target to $18.50

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $16.00 to $18.50 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MP. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP Materials stock opened at $18.64 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.00. MP Materials has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $20.85. 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 $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -46.60 and a beta of 2.23.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,208,249. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,635,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,669,000 after acquiring an additional 254,881 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in MP Materials by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 8,376 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,861 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in MP Materials by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 47,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $959,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.