Sycomore Asset Management Has $468,000 Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Sycomore Asset Management lifted its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,180 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,083 shares during the quarter. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,216,000 after acquiring an additional 225,554 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,819,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,895,000 after buying an additional 76,288 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in MP Materials by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,993,000 after buying an additional 71,454 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,733,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,068,000 after buying an additional 26,119 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America decreased 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.61.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP stock opened at $17.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -117.67 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials Corp. has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.31 and a 200-day moving average of $14.57.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials 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.