MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 7.9% – Should You Sell?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was down 7.9% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.41 and last traded at $23.92. Approximately 988,018 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 3,178,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. DA Davidson lifted their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.64 and a beta of 2.32.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released 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). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The company had revenue of $60.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.71 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 489,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total value of $13,115,104.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,153,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,650,039.66. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987. 12.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in MP Materials by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 204.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MP Materials Company 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.