Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 30,040 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,173 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,040 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of MP Materials worth $4,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,216,000 after purchasing an additional 225,554 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 2.8% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,819,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,895,000 after buying an additional 76,288 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,314,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,956,000 after buying an additional 860,960 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,733,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,068,000 after buying an additional 26,119 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 2,536.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,598,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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 MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five 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 $19.89.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.6 %

MP stock opened at $14.12 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.15 and its 200-day moving average is $14.50. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.02 and a twelve month high of $21.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -94.13 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 12.60% 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.