Stifel Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,904 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,713 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MP. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $194,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 17.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 263,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,360,000 after purchasing an additional 38,426 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the second 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. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 93,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 76,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP opened at $18.37 on Wednesday. MP Materials Corp. has a 1 year low of $10.02 and a 1 year high of $24.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of -34.02 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a current ratio of 6.93.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,667 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.68, for a total value of $4,852,913.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,608,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,141,898.12. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.50, for a total value of $752,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 260,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,590,451.50. This represents a 11.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 884,862 shares of company stock valued at $17,484,482 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $16.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.10.

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.