Wulff Hansen & CO. Grows Stock Holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 1,173.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,222 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 170,672 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. owned approximately 0.11% of MP Materials worth $2,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MP. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in MP Materials by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 6,226 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 16,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,467 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,198,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,787,000 after buying an additional 23,722 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in MP Materials by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,314,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,956,000 after buying an additional 860,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in MP Materials by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Monday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 price target on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.89.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $14.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.40 and a beta of 2.22. MP Materials Corp. has a one year low of $10.02 and a one year high of $22.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current ratio of 6.90.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted 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). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 approved a share buyback 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 often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.