Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 2,754 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,754 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.06% of MP Materials worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,284,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MP Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 899,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 294,806 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,550,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,484,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,584,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

MP opened at $25.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.02 and a beta of 2.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.22. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $27.29. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.71 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MP shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $13,115,104.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,153,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $405,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,812 shares in the company, valued at $5,799,924. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987 over the last 90 days. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.