Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 254,360 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,925 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $3,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,861,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,216,000 after purchasing an additional 225,554 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,993,000 after acquiring an additional 71,454 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 1.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,733,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,068,000 after acquiring an additional 26,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 period. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MP. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MP Materials from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

MP Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MP opened at $14.01 on Tuesday. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $10.02 and a 52-week high of $22.25. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -93.40 and a beta of 2.22.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.03 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The business’s revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.