MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Up 6.3% – Should You Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price was up 6.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.93 and last traded at $18.82. Approximately 440,715 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 3,331,097 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MP has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.85.

MP Materials Stock Up 5.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of -125.40 and a beta of 2.23. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $14.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.84.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

MP Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in MP Materials by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 62,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of MP Materials by 219.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 32,176 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 25.7% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 118,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 24,231 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 136.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 7.6% in the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 22,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.