MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 7.9%

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) were up 7.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $15.53 and last traded at $15.35. Approximately 346,885 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,320,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

MP Materials Stock Up 8.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.48. 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 market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of -103.73 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced 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 net margin of 21.94% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. MP Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, September 3rd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,537 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. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.